Higher Power
by Jessan151
Summary: What happens when two young couples take part in an unknown experiment? Firestarter meets Witch Mountain...Hannah Montana style. Eventually Liley
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

**  
Medical Building near Nashville, Tennessee; January 4, 1991**

Robbie Ray Stewart paced back and forth in front of a brown door. The halls were hospital white and everything around him had a sterile feel to it. He ran his fingers threw his lush mullet and inhaled deeply. He looked up at the ceiling hoping it held the answers he was looking for. 'God, please…I don't know if we're doing the right thing here, but please, please take care of my wife. I will never forgive myself if something happens to her.'

With his silent prayer finished, he dropped his eyes back to the door, then slowly reached forward and twisted the handle. When he opened the door, he saw one of the three things in this world that gave his life meaning…his beautiful wife Susan.

Robbie put a sweet smile on his face as he walked to the right side of her bed. "Hey there darlin. How are you feeling?"

Susan looked at Robbie with sad eyes. And carefully reached out her right hand to take his, making sure not to jar the IV in her wrist too much. She asked the one question that Robbie did not have an answer to. "Are we doing the right thing sweetheart?" she asked with eyes begging for reassurance.

Robbie sighed as he took a seat on the bed next to his wife. He shook his head and then looked at the bed sheets as he tried to avoid looking in his wife's eyes. "I don't honestly know the answer to that darlin. I hope we are. I have been over it a hundred times and I just don't see any other way out of this situation."

Robbie finally looked up to see a sight that he vowed on the day they wed that he would do everything in his power to keep from happening; Susan crying. He leaned forward and kissed tears off both of her cheeks. "Please don't do this darlin. We know the risks, but how can we worry about what might happen in the future when Jackson's well-being is very much the present?"

Susan took a deep breath and desperately tried to calm herself. She had been trying to maintain her composure and not show Robbie how much this was affecting her state of mind. "I know we have to take care of Jackson…but I had always hoped…" Susan left the statement hanging in the air.

Robbie brought his hand up to her face and gently rubbed his thumb over her cheek. "Oh darlin, I know you want more kids. And you know I'm okay with that. But we have to face the reality of right now. What I make right now singing is barely keeping food on the table. When we accepted your uncle's farm after he passed away, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. Even if I gave up trying to make it as a singer, we still couldn't make enough just running the farm to make ends meet, especially with the taxes and everything…" his voice trailed off as his head turned to look at the opening the door.

A nurse walked in and was slightly surprised to see that Susan had a visitor. "I'm sorry, but its time." She looked at the faces of the young couple in front of her and felt her heart constrict in her chest. Clearly these people were not involved with the program for the possible good it could do, but for the fast cash it would put into their pockets. And neither one of them seemed very happy with the idea.

As she took a step into the room she noticed Brooke's grip tighten on Robbie's hand and figured that another minute or two wouldn't hurt anything. "Oh, I just remembered that I have to get her chart. I'll be back in a minute or two." She said turning around and disappearing back out the door.

Robbie smiled gently as he figured the nurse was giving them a few more minutes to themselves. Robbie turned back to his wife and spoke from his heart. "Now you listen to me Susan Stewart. You can do this. A quick little surgery, they insert that thing-a-ma-gig and then you are sleeping with your boys by tomorrow night." Robbie leaned down to give his wife a gentle but re-affirming kiss. "You are my light darlin." he said stroking her cheek. "And that baby boy at my mother's is my pride." he slide his hand down to rest over her heart, "And someday, I just know that there's gonna be a little girl that's gonna be my hope."

Tears glistened in Susan's eyes as she desperately tried not to let them fall, but her husband's loving sentiment was making it a losing battle. As the tears stared running down her face, she leaned forward to grab Robbie's mullet and crash their mouths together in a heated kiss. After a few seconds, Susan pulled back and stared into her husband's eyes. "I don't know what I did in this life to deserve someone as loving as you, but I thank god everyday for my blessings."

Robbie Ray chuckled. "That's only because God didn't know what else he could give an angel." He leaned forward and placed his forehead against hers and brought their intertwined hands up to hold against his chest. "I love you darlin. Don't ever doubt that. And I think what you are doing for our family is incredible."

And that moment, the door opened once more. The nurse smiled as she walked in the room. "Okay, now it really is time to go." She walked over and started disconnecting Susan from all the monitoring devices in her room.

Robbie slowly got up from the bed and released his grip on his wife. "I'll be waiting for you." he vowed.

Susan smiled as the nurse prepared to wheel her bed towards surgery. "I know you will. I love you." she said as she was slowly wheeled out of the room.

Robbie stared at the door as his wife was taken to surgery. "I love you too." he said to the now empty room.

Medical Building in Los Angeles, California; January 7, 1991

Heather Truscott stared out the window of her room wondering if her husband was going to show up before she was taken to surgery.

Without warning, the door flew open. Suddenly, in the doorway stood her husband John Truscott, panting heavily.

He rushed over the bed and grabbed her hand. "F-ing traffic. I'm so sorry. I was trying my damnedest to get here as fast as I could." he apologized as she gently stroked his wife's hand.

Heather looked up and smiled. "Its all right. Not like there's anything to be nervous about, right?" she questioned with some uncertainty.

John smiled gently and leaned down to kiss her forehead. "No. Not a thing to worry about. You know that when this is over we will finally be able to afford that house on the beach we've been dreaming about."

Heather smiled lovingly. "I know. I can't wait." she said but then looked down at her bed. "Do you think after this is all over we can still have children?" she asked quietly.

John grabbed her hand and brought it up to softly kiss her knuckles. "Oh honey, I promise as soon as we get our living arrangements settled, try and make me keep my hands off of you." he answered with a huge grin and a wink.

Heather softly chuckled but then tensed up. "But what if…"

John put a finger to her lips to silence her. "No more worries. We take care of now and worry about tomorrow…tomorrow."

Heather took a deep breath and then nodded her head. "I love you."

John nodded his head. "Oh I know you do, but not nearly as much as I love you." As they finished their sentiments to each other, the door opened and two nurses entered the room.

"Alright Heather, it's time." said the smaller of the two. As they prepared to take her to surgery.

John stepped away from the bed and allowed the nurses room to work. "I'll be here." he promised as he watched his wife being ushered out of the room.


	2. Ch 1 Everything Is Not What It Seems

**Chapter 1 - Everything is Not What it Seems**

**Truscott House - Malibu, California; October 20, 1993**

"How is the little lady?" John Truscott asks as he walks up behind his wife after a long day and wraps his arms around her waist, peering over her shoulder to look at their little girl sleeping soundly in the crib.

Heather smiles, gazing fondly at her little girl. "She was so good today. Not a peep out of her."

John raises his eyebrow in question. "Any more surprises?" he asks while turning her slightly in his arms so that he can look her in the eyes.

Heather sighs as she briefly closes her eyes, desperate to keep this conversation from turning into an argument. "None yet. Maybe it was just an accident." she says as she lowers her head to his chest, silently praying that he will let it go.

John shakes his head in disbelief. "Sweetheart, don't kid yourself. A baby can't magically roll under a couch that only has a 2 inch clearance." John Truscott did not want to admit it, but he was terrified. His daughter could be a freak and it would all be his fault. He drops his eyes to the floor and lets the guilt start to eat him from the inside.

Heather nodded as she noted the look on his face. "Let's go to bed and worry about it tomorrow." she said as she gently rubbed her hand up and down his strong arms trying to take his mind off his guilt. She slowly pulled out of his arms, took him by the hand and led him to their bedroom.

A few hours later, the Truscott's were awoken by the sound of their daughter screaming bloody murder. John moaned and pulled the pillow over his head trying to block out the noise.

Heather looked at her husband and determined that he was in no mood to deal with their distraught daughter. Heather groaned as she rolled out of bed. "She definitely has your temper." Heather mumbled to the lump hiding under the covers.

John lifted a corner of the pillow so he could peek out at his wife. "You got her?" he asked tiredly.

Heather stopped her procession towards the door and quickly walked back over to his side of the bed. "Yes, you need to get some sleep for work tomorrow." She leaned down and gave him a gentle kiss. "Good night. Sweet dreams." she said running a hand along the covers. She then turned and headed for the nursery.

Heather walked to the baby's room half asleep but when she opened the door to the nursery, the sight before her was enough to wake her up instantly. Her baby girl was laying on the floor in front of the crib. Heather walked over to the child and picked her up gently rocking her from side to side. "How on earth did you manage this?" she mumbled, while staring at the bars of the crib.

Heather walked over to the corner of the nursery where a rocker sat. She grabbed a blanket off the chair and then sat down and covered both her and the baby. Heather looked down at the baby wondering what would happen to her little girl. She had already dealt with the side effects of the experimental procedure last year and come to terms with it. She just wouldn't tell anyone and everything would be fine. However, trying to keep a 1 year old to keep a secret was another matter.

"Oh Lilly. You can't keep doing this. If anyone finds out, they'll take you away from me, I just know it. Not to mention what might happen to me." she told her daughter running a finger along her chubby little cheek. "Even your daddy isn't dealing with this well."

Lilly opened her red-rimmed eyes and stared up at her mother. "Do birdie mama." she asked in a soft pleading voice.

Heather sighed and looked towards the window to see a beautiful moon hanging over the ocean. "Please don't ever ask me this in front of daddy." She turned back to the child in her arms and whispered conspiringly, "Its our secret." Heather then gently ran a hand over the baby's soft hair. "But how can I possibly say no to a face like that." she said smiling at her daughter.

Heather then held her hand a few inches in front of Lilly's face. She concentrated and watched as a lick of flame slowly formed in the palm of her hand. As the lick grew a little larger, it started to take the shape of a small bird. Every few seconds it would flap its wings making the little girl giggle with amusement. After a few minutes of enjoying her daughter's delight watching the flaming creature, Heather noticed Lilly's eyes getting heavy and starting to close. She slowly closed her hand snuffing out the flame.

Lilly yawned and snuggled in closer to her mother's chest. Heather leaned down and gently kissed her forehead as she continued to rock the child to sleep. "Oh, I just hope I can deal with whatever it is that you can do…" she said softly to the quiet room as she continued to rock her little angel to sleep.

**Crowley Corners, Tennessee; December 3, 1993**

Susan stood over Miley's crib and stared in amazement at the toys and stuffed animals that were flying around the crib. Susan reached in a grabbed a little stuffed rabbit out of the air and stared at it in amazement. "Baby girl, you can't keep doing this." she said looking down at the young girl bouncing with happiness in the bed.

Susan put her hand to her head and slowly rubbed her temple. She knew that for as often as Miley used her gift, someone was going to notice sooner or later.

Susan sighed in displeasure. She had tried so hard to keep her own gift from her husband, but it somehow didn't seem possible for her to be able to hide their daughter's for much longer if she kept doing things like this. Susan looked down at the happy child and smiled sadly. "I'm so sorry I have to do this baby girl, but I promise, someday I'll fix it when you're old enough to understand what's happening." she said, then added as an afterthought, "And can keep it a secret."

Susan had discovered not long after the experimental procedure that she could suggest things to people and make them do what she wanted. Being the conscientious person she was, she hardly ever used her gift. Mostly she ended up using it on accident when she was trying to comfort someone. If Susan asked someone to stop crying, then they did. If Susan wanted something done around the house, she simply had to ask Robbie to do it and it was taken care of in a heartbeat. Was that because she had the most caring husband in the world or was it because she was actually influencing his actions, she wasn't sure. Therefore Susan went out of her way to remain as indecisive as possible and extremely passive.

Susan leaned into the crib and looked her little girl in the eye. "Miley, you don't know that you can make things fly. You don't know how you make it happen. You can't remember." Susan smiled sadly as she gave the last command that she knew her baby girl would abide by. "You won't remember anything about this, until mama lets you."

Suddenly anything that was airborne dropped to the crib in a heap. Miley looked up at her mother and started to sniffle. She wasn't old enough to understand exactly what had just happened, but she knew that something had been taken away from her.

As she began to cry, Susan picked her up in her arms and started to softly stroke her hair and spoke in comforting words. "Shhhh. It's okay baby girl. You stop crying now. Everything is going to be alright." The sniffles ceased and Miley's breathing evened out as Susan continued to walk around the room with her. "That's my girl." Susan said laying Miley back in her crib to sleep.

Susan stared down at the beautiful baby girl. "Your daddy was right. You are our hope." Susan sighed deeply, then crossed her arms on the crib railing and laid her head on them. "I promise baby girl. Someday you and me are gonna sit and talk about this, but right now, I need for us to be together. I don't know what I would do if I lost you." she whispered.

Behind Susan, the door to the nursery slowly opened. Susan was momentarily startled until her mind registered who it was that had joined her.

Robbie walked up to Susan and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Little Bud asleep already?" he asked.

Susan smiled up at the man who had made her dreams a reality. "Yes sir. And how about our little man? Down for the count?"

Robbie Ray chuckled. "Yep, a little bit a wrasslin before bed and he was tuckered out in no time flat." he leaned into the crib and ran a gentle finger over his little girl's cheek. "So, since the kids got the right idea, what do you say if you and I go and try to give them another little brother or sister?" he said waggling his eyebrows.

"Robbie Ray Stewart! Are you suggestion that we go fool around with our children right next door?" she asked with an amused glint in her eye. She loved this man with all her heart.

"Suggesting it? Heck no. I'm saying that we should!" he replied as he leaned down and started kissing her collarbone

"Well, how can a girl turn down an offer like that?" Susan giggled.

Robbie Ray smiled as he picked his wife up and carried her out of the nursery to their bedroom to enjoy a peaceful night to themselves.


	3. Ch 2 It's Not Just Me

**Chapter 2 - It's Not Just Me**

**Malibu, California; July 9, 1999**

Heather Truscott sat down on her living room chair with a huff. 'My lord where does she get all this energy from?' she thought staring up at the ceiling. She could still hear her little girl stomping around the upstairs like an elephant.

Heather sighed tiredly. It was only 1:00 in the afternoon, but she felt like she had been on the go for twelve straight hours. Lilly had been especially rambunctious today.

Surprisingly, it was a horrible summer day in Malibu. Dark clouds were spread across the horizon and rain had been falling for several hours already. The lightning and the thunder had let up slightly.

Due to the unfortunate atmospheric conditions, Heather was forced to keep her athletic, hyper-active, 7-year-old tomboy in the house for the duration of the day. Normally, she would be out riding her skateboard or swimming down at the beach.

Without her normal activities to keep her pre-occupied, Lilly didn't know what to do with herself. She hadn't sat still for more than 5 minutes at a time. Heather tried to get her to play some board games. Too slow paced. She tried to get her to watch television. Too boring. 'What child doesn't like to watch television for heaven's sake?' she asked herself.

Heather had even tried calling the Oken's to send over re-enforcements. She had hoped that Lilly's best friend Oliver could come over and help keep her busy, but Oliver's mother and father didn't have to work this Saturday and had decided to stay home and have a family game day with him. 'Sure, at least he'll sit in one spot for half an hour.' she thought.

As Heather was busy contemplating on what to do about Lilly, when she heard what sounded like a stampede above her head. In actuality, it was Lilly running up and down the bedroom hallway.

Heather shook her head and then screamed toward the stairwell. "LILLIAN STOP RUNNING!!!" she yelled, her tone mirroring her state of mind. She was slightly frustrated to say the least.

Of course, with all the noise she was making, Lilly couldn't quite make out what her mother had yelled, so she figured that she would go downstairs and see what she wanted.

As Lilly turned the corner of the hallway, she continued to run down the stairs. Unfortunately, she didn't noticed her skateboard that was leaning against the bottom of the steps. As her left foot reached the first floor, her right caught the skateboard and sent her tumbling head first towards the china closet.

"Oof." she grunted as she lost her balance. As she put her hands out in front of her to try and stop herself from falling, Lilly noted the strange feeling she usually associated with her power kicking in. 'Ut oh' she said mentally. Lilly's hands went thru the large piece of furniture, all the way to the floor. Lilly looked from side to side and could see nothing but a murky brown color. Lilly briefly panicked while she assessed what had happened. 'My head must be inside the cabinet! Oh man!!' she thought and quickly pushed herself up and out of the china closet to sit on her knees.

Heather came rushing into the dining room from the living room after hearing what she thought was going to be a nasty accident. "Are you alright?" she asked as she knelt down and ran her hands over her upper body, checking for any damage. She briefly glanced up at the china closet and sighed in relief that all of her good china still looked to be in one piece.

Lilly was slightly uncomfortable with the fact that her mother had been so close to discovering her secret. "Yeah mom." she chuckled lightly. "Why wouldn't I be?" she asked as she stood up and brushed herself off. She was used to stuff like this happening, but usually it took place outside and either involved grass, dirt or gravel.

Heather finally reached her breaking point. "That's it." she said in a slightly disgruntled tone, that clearly meant she had had enough. "You young lady are on a time out." she informed her daughter. She put her hands on the young girl's shoulders and began marching her back up the stairs she had just come down. "You are going upstairs and I am locking you in your bedroom for fifteen minutes so you can calm down before you either hurt yourself or some poor defenseless piece of china."

Lilly tried turning around and begging her mother not to punish her. "But mom!!" she whined and tried giving her mom her best puppy dog face.

Heather defiantly shook her head. "Don't look at me like that. Fifteen minutes. It won't hurt you to sit on your bed for fifteen minutes." Heather didn't believe in physical violence, so this was the harshest punishment she would dole out. She tried offering her daughter an alternative as she ushered her into her bedroom. "Take a nap." she suggested.

Lilly turned around and crossed her arms over her chest in a defiant gesture. 'Naps are for babies.' she thought as she watched her mother turn on her heels and walk out the door. Lilly watched the door close and then heard the audible 'click' of the lock.

Lilly sighed and looked around her bedroom. "What can I do?" she said out loud to herself. She looked over at her unmade bed briefly and quickly discounted that as an option. She mentally ran through the things that she usually did to keep herself busy. 'My skateboard is downstairs.' she turned to look at her desk and momentarily considered getting on her computer. 'Nah, I don't feel like playing on my computer.' She paced the room for another minute and then mother nature made the decision for her "What I need to do is go to the bathroom." she said, looking back at her closed bedroom door.

Lilly walked over to her door to see if her mother did indeed carry out her threat of locking her in her room. Sure she had heard the lock 'click', but maybe she undid it right after that so I wouldn't really be trapped. Lilly reached out and tried the handle. It was still locked.

Lilly tried pounding on the door. "Mom!!!" she yelled out to her mother. "Mom!!!" she tried again, still no response.

Lilly sighed. She really did have to use the bathroom. 'Well, there is another way.' she thought to herself.

Lilly reached out and put her hand on the bedroom door. She closed her eyes and pictured herself falling thru the door. A warm tingling sensation came over her body. When she opened her eyes, she was laying on the floor in the hallway. 'Wish I could do that without falling on my face.' she silently grumbled as she walked quickly down the hall into the bathroom.

Meanwhile, Heather was downstairs feeling extremely guilty. She sat on the couch, changing channels on the television while she debated whether she was being too strict with her daughter. 'Lilly is just a kid and should not be punished for wanting to be active. A lot of parents would kill to get their kids out of the house. And I think it's a problem cause I don't know what to do with mine when she's in the house.'

Heather sighed and rose from the couch. She turned off the television and threw the remote on the couch, then headed back up the stairs. Once she reached the top of the stairs and made the right to head to Lilly's room, she saw something that surprised her. Lilly was walking out of the bathroom.

Heather's eyes were wide in amazement. "Lilly." she said, stopping her daughter cold.

Lilly looked like she had just been caught doing something absolutely horrible. "Ah, hey mom." she said with nervous laughter, desperately trying to figure how she was going to get out of this one. She quickly turned and pointed to the bathroom. "I had to pee." she stated matter-of-factly.

Heather's eyes narrowed and her hands came to rest on her hips, adopting an intimidating stance. "How did you get out of your bedroom?" she questioned rather menacingly.

Lilly tried to look anywhere other than her mother's accusing glare. "Um, I walked?" she said, shrugging her shoulders.

Heather reached forward and checked the door handle to Lilly's bedroom. It was still locked. "The door's locked. How did you get out?" she demanded once more.

Lilly debated in her head how to explin the situation without telling her mother about her secret. Ever since she had figured out she could do some freaky stuff, she hadn't wanted to let anyone find out. She didn't want to be the freak that everyone teased and tormented. "It must have been opened." she insisted.

Suddenly, long forgotten memories came to the front of Heather's memory. Lilly somehow getting out of her crib before she could even stand up. Putting Lilly in the tub, turning around to get soap, and then her sitting on the floor at her feet. 'Could this be the same thing?' she wondered. 'Maybe this is the special thing she can do.'

Heather's face suddenly softened. She slowly sat Indian style on the floor in front of Lilly and pulled the little girl into her lap and began to tickle her mercilessly.

Lilly giggled uncontrollably. "Mommy STOP!!! Please!!!" she yelled while trying desperately to wiggle out of her mother's grasp.

Heather paused her assault and looked her daughter directly in the eye. 'Now, are you going to tell me the truth?" she asked.

Lilly hesitated and turned her face away from her mother's demanding gaze. "What do you mean?"

Heather repeated her earlier question, but this time used a much softer, loving tone of voice. "How did you get out of your room angel?"

Lilly finally mumbled her response. "It's a secret."

Heather sighed. Maybe now was the time to come clean with her daughter. Heather reached out and gently grasped Lilly's chin, turning it so she could look in her daughter's lovely blue eyes. "What if I told you that mommy has a secret too?" she said softly.

Lilly's eyes lit up in wonder. "Really?"

Heather nodded. "Really. And if you show me yours, I'll show you mine." she vowed.

Lilly looked at her questioningly. She wasn't born yesterday. She climbed out of her mother's lap and sat in front of her. "No, you show me yours first. Cause I think you are fibbing to me to make you show you my secret!!" she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest as her mother had just done earlier.

Heather was kinda of impressed. For a 7-year-old, that was pretty damn good logical thinking. "Alright. You win."

Heather adjusted herself until she was sitting on her knees and brought her hands up in front of her chest palms up. "Okay, watch my hands." Heather concentrated and suddenly both of her hands burst into flames.

Lilly sat there dumb founded by the sight that was before her. "Mom, you're on fire!!!" she screamed, getting a little wigged out.

Heather brought her hands to her mouth and with two quick puffs, blew out the flames before her daughter's wild eyes. Heather softly chuckled. "I guess this means you don't remember the birdie?"

Lilly heard her mother say the words and tried to think about what she might be referring too. "What do you mean?" she asked in a small voice.

"You used to ask me to make the birdie all the time when you were little." Heather held her right palm out and slowly an egg shaped ball of flame was in her hand. Slowly it seemed to crack and a small firebird was released from its shell.

Lilly softly muttered to herself, "I don't remember."

Heather smiled down at her only child. "That's okay. So if your secret is half as amazing as mine, I think I know what we can do to keep you busy this afternoon."

Lilly shook her head. 'I guess mom can understand.' she thought. Lilly quickly stood up and walked over to her bedroom to repeat her earlier performance.

Heather watched as Lilly placed her hand on her bedroom door. And after about 5 seconds, she watched her little girl literally fall thru the closed door. Heather rushed over, unlocked the door, and quickly opened it. "Are you alright?" she asked looking down at her daughter sprawled out on her bedroom floor.

Lilly giggled. "Yeah it doesn't hurt or nothing." she proudly informed her mother.

Heather briefly considered the things that her daughter could do in the future. Break into places. Steal things. Rob people. They would never be able to put her in jail. She could walk right out. Heather suddenly understood how important it was going to be to raise her daughter right.

Heather eyed her daughter carefully before asking her next question. "Can you walk thru anything? Or just doors?"

Lilly shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I've only made myself go thru doors, but sometimes I won't be trying and just put my hand thru something without thinking." she squirmed under her mother scrutinizing stare. "Kinda like when I fell into the china closet downstairs." she said light heartedly with a brief chuckle. Lilly finally got up from the floor and stood in front of her mother. "Are you mad at me for not telling you sooner?" she questioned with sad eyes.

Heather could see the regret on Lilly's face. She thought she had disappointed her mother and felt incredibly guilty about it. "Oh baby." cupping her cheek, she leaned down and rubbed her nose against her daughter's, making her giggle. She reached down and took Lilly's small hand in hers and pulled her towards the bed. "Let's go sit on your bed and mommy is going to tell you a story…"

**Fifteen minutes later…**

After listening intently to her mother's story about how they ended up with the special abilities, Lilly's mind was swirling with questions. "So if we want to stay safe, we can't let anyone know what we can do. If anyone found out, they might try to hurt us or make us do things we don't want to do, right?"

Heather nodded her head.

Lilly scrunched up her face before asking her next question. "Why did you say we couldn't tell daddy?"

Heather took a deep breath. "Well sweetie, I think your daddy sorta knows and it makes him very uncomfortable. Even though mommy made the decision to be part of the experiment as much as daddy did, daddy thinks he should have stopped mommy and blames himself for how we are now."

Lilly quickly interrupted her mother after hearing something she didn't believe. "But what's wrong with us?"

Heather leaned down and kissed her daughter on the forehead. "Not a thing sweetie. Well, maybe the fact that you can't sit still, but I don't think that has anything to do with this thing you can do." she said, softly laughing at her earlier agitation.

Lilly lowered her head and picked at a string on her bed spread. "Are you gonna tell daddy about me?"

Heather carefully considered her daughter's question. John wasn't thrilled with what his wife was capable of, she could only imagine his reaction to how special their daughter actually was. She figured that John had an inkling from the few things he had seen over the years about what Lilly could do, but she had never found the nerve to ask him how he felt about it. John never brought it up, so Heather figured it was best not to either. After her brief internal debate, she responded with the answer that seemed the safest. "As long as he doesn't actually see it, then it'll be our secret."

Lilly dove into her mother's arms and wrapped her small arms tightly around her neck. "I won't let him see mom. I promise."

Heather smiled. In an odd way, she was grateful for this situation. It finally gave her and Lilly something special that they could share, that was just between the two of them. "That's my girl. Now how about we practice this ability of yours. Maybe we can avoid having any accidents happen in front of someone we don't want to, okay?"

Lilly shook her head happily. She was excited to finally have someone to share this strange secret with. "Mom? Do you think there are other kids out there like me? I mean not exactly like me, but you know, that can do weird stuff?" she asked with total innocence.

Heather considered her response carefully. She did not want to be misleading, but at the same time she wanted to leave her daughter with a little hope. "Well honey, even if you are one in a million, there are a lot more than a million people in this world. Right?"

Lilly smiled at the answer. Her mom's thinking made perfect sense. "Do you think I'll ever meet one?" she questioned wistfully.

Heather smiled at her daughter's innocence and naivety. "Anything's possible sweetheart."


	4. Ch 3 How Can I Help You To Say Goodbye

I feel the need to warn you...if you are the sentimental type...get the tissues now.

* * *

**Chapter 3 - How Can I Help You To Say Goodbye**

**Crowley Corners, Tennessee; December 15, 2002**

Robbie Ray sat on the window seat in his bedroom staring blankly out over their wheat fields. They look barren now that the spring wheat had been harvested and the winter wheat was freshly planted.

It had snowed earlier in the afternoon, not too much, about two or three inches. It was just the right amount to cover everything in a white blanket and make it feel like Christmas. The moon's reflection on the snow gave the fields a pristine shine. For a simple farmer, the view could be considered breath taking. Everything looked so picture perfect. In reality, it was anything but perfect.

He glanced quickly to his left, where his loving wife of 16 years laid resting and sighed in disgust.

He briefly wondered how everything had gone so wrong, so quickly. His music career had skyrocketed, nearly everyone in the country knew his song _Achy Breaky Heart_. He had been nominated for several country awards, and even managed to win a few of them. Back at home, the farm was turning a profit and his kids were growing up beautifully. Jackson was a kind hearted soul that would do anything for anybody. And Miley, well she was going to follow in her daddy's footsteps someday. Ah heck, she could already sing prettier than her Aunt Dolly, who was considered a country music darling.

How could one visit to the doctor's change everything? Susan had been having constant headaches, so Robby Ray being the loving and wonderful husband he is, insisted that she go see the doctor and try to get the problem fixed.

After a few tests were run, the verdict was clear. Cancer. It had already spread throughout her entire body. Terminal. There was nothing they could do to help her. No Chemotherapy. No surgery. No experimental drugs. Nothing. The doctor had given her 6 months at best; that was in June. It was now December. Time was running out.

A soft rustling of sheets over his shoulder caught his attention. Robbie stood from the window seat and walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge waiting for his angel to fully wake up from her nap.

Susan turned her head to look at her loving husband with sad eyes. "Robbie, what's wrong?" she said in a voice still thick with sleep.

Robbie reached down and began to tenderly stroke her hand. "It's not supposed to happen like this." he said, shaking his head repeatedly.

Susan softly smiled at her husband. No woman could possibly feel as loved as she had over the years. Robbie Ray was truly the perfect husband - kind and caring, attentive and understanding, passionate and loving. Susan felt blessed everyday to have Robbie Ray in her life. "I know its not, but sometimes we can't control these things. Its in God's hands now. We just have to wait and see how his plan plays out." she said with sad eyes.

Robbie's temper uncharacteristically flared at that statement. "How can you say this is God's plan?!?" he hollered as he jumped up from the bed and began pacing the floor of their bedroom. "To take the life of a loving mother from her children? Separate two lovers that promised to be together forever? How is that God's plan??" Robbie yelled. He certainly wasn't upset with his wife, but his emotions desperately needed an outlet.

Susan watched as her strong husband was slowly coming apart before her very eyes. Robbie was always the one that told everyone else that god has a reason for everything. For him to be questioning his own faith, Robbie had clearly given up all hope.

Susan felt the tears in her eyes and refused to let them fall. She would not sit here and do nothing while her husband fell apart. 'I don't want to do this, but I can't bear the thoughts of him facing this grief alone.' Slowly, she rolled out of bed, walked over to Robbie, grabbed his shoulders and began shaking him with as much force as she could manage from her tired body. "You listen to me Robbie Ray. You will not blame anyone for anything. You will always be a caring, understanding, loving father to those two wonderful children and never regret a minute of your life." she said as her eyes seemed to glow with a surreal light.

Robbie wanted to look away from the intense stare, but found it impossible to do so. "Yes ma'am." he finally responded in a weary voice. Desperation was so evident in his usual strong and confident voice.

Susan's heart painfully constricted in her chest at the sound of surrender in Robbie's reply. "Oh Robbie, never mourn our love. Celebrate it. Cherish it. Teach our children that love is god's greatest gift." she said as she wrapped her arms around his chest and squeezing tightly.

Robbie burrowed his head into Susan's neck and wished he could hold her forever. "I will. I promise you that." he said then pulled back from the hug to look her in the eyes. "I have loved you every day of my life and will continue to love you every day until I die. You know that right?" he solemnly vowed to her.

The sheer power of Robbie's sentiment finally broke Susan's resolve as the tears cascaded down her pale face. She hugged him again as she cried for everything she was going to be leaving behind.

After a few minutes of holding one another, Susan had finally calmed down enough to talk again. "There's one more thing that I think we need to talk about."

Robbie just nodded his head. "What's that darlin?"

Susan sighed. "Miley."

Robbie released his hold on his wife but still held onto her hands as he questioned her. "Miley? What about her? She's a little angel. That singing voice of hers gets prettier everyday."

Susan shook her head and gentle pulled Robbie back toward the bed so that they could sit down. "Its not about that Robbie. But I definitely agree with you. Our baby would sing to the world if she was given the chance." Susan smiled at the memory of Miley singing at the State Fair this spring. She was born to be on stage.

Susan shook the wonderful memory from her head and tried to get back to what she wanted to talk about. "I don't even know how to say this."

Robbie put his hand on her cheek and gently stroked his thumb across it. "Speak from your heart darlin. Its never failed you before." he said waiting patiently for his wife to find the right words.

Susan gathered her thoughts, her husband's touch giving her the courage to continue. "Miley is going to be extra special. And she's going to need you to be her protector and teacher because I won't be there for her." she spoke slowly, her voice laced with regret at the final words.

Robbie leaned forward and gave her a gentle kiss. "Hush now. Don't talk like that." he whispered.

Susan shook her head defiantly. "Robbie, it's the truth." After a deep breath, she continued. "Now listen to me. Miley can do things that other girls can't."

Robbie chuckled. "Don't I know it. You seen her on Blue Jeans lately? That girl can ride. I don't know if I should try to get her a singing gig or a shot at the rodeo."

Susan sighed in frustration at her husband's cluelessness. "This isn't coming out how I want it to." Susan shook her head and started again. "Miley has a special gift, it was taken from her a long time ago, but sometime pretty soon, she is going to get it back."

Confusion clouded Robbie's loving eyes. "Darlin, what are you taking about?"

Once more, Susan locked eyes with her husband and spoke in a commanding tone. "Swear to me that you will never turn your back on those children, no matter what. Whatever problems or conflicts arise, you will be there for them and support them and love them. NO MATTER WHAT."

Robbie was taken aback by the intensity of Susan's words, but saw no reason to disagree. "I swear. Anything for them. You know that."

Susan suddenly felt very guilty for her actions. She had tried very hard over the years to never purposely influence her husband. She didn't think she had put anything in his mind that wasn't already there, but one can never be 100% sure about these things. "I just…I just needed to hear you say it out loud."

Robbie just smiled that mega watt smile and kissed her softly. After a few moments of kissing, Susan placed a hand on Robbie's chest to halt his further advances. "Can you go get Miley for me?"

Robbie nodded his head and left the room in search of his little girl.

A few minutes later, a skinny little girl with pigtails in her hair walked into the bedroom. She was wearing her favorite snowman pajamas and carrying her stuffed bear - Berry. "Hey mama. How're you feeling?" she asked while she climbed up onto the bed to sit next to her mother who was sitting propped up against the head board.

Susan looked down at her little girl as Miley rested her head against her shoulder. "I'm okay baby girl, but I don't know for how much longer."

Miley quickly wrapped her small arms around her mother's midsection. "Please don't leave mama."

It was said with such innocence, it broke Susan's heart. "Oh my darlin baby girl. If I could stay here with you forever, I would, but that isn't going to happen." she responded while hugging her daughter. "Now we need to talk about something important."

Miley sat up quickly to give her mother her complete attention. "Yes, mama?" she said, wiping a few tears from her eyes.

Susan smiled. "A long time ago, I told you that you wouldn't remember something. But I think its time you did."

Miley scrunched up her face in confusion at her mother's words. "What are you talking about mama. I don't understand."

Susan took a deep breath and considered what she was about to do. If she did not let Miley remember her gift before she died, then there was a possibility that she might never remember. But was it fair to do that to her baby girl? No, this was a part of who she was. And someday, it might even help Miley as much as Susan's gift had helped her.

Susan turned a little in the bed and faced her daughter directly. After grasping both of her shoulders firmly, she spoke in a strong, clear voice. "Miley Ray Stewart. You remember what you can do. Keep it a secret. Don't let anyone know what you can do unless you trust them with your life." Susan finally released her grip and added in a hushed whisper, "I don't want anyone to hurt you."

Miley was confused, but calm. She noticed that her mom had kicked the comforter on the floor when she had twisted her position in bed. As her hand reached out, the edge of the comforter seemed to be dragged straight to her hand as if attached by a string. Miley turned to look at her mother. "Mama, do you just see…?" she asked, shock clearly evident on her face.

Susan nodded with a content smile on her face. "I did. You should have seen what you used to do when you were a baby." Miley's eyes widened at her mother's unexpected statement. "Now learn how it works and keep it hidden. I am certain that there are people in this world that would not understand,. Some would be frightened, and others would want to use you. You stay close to your family and always be wary about those you let get close to you. Make sure you can trust them completely."

Miley nodded her head reverently. "I will Mama." she promised. "But, how will I know if I can really trust someone?"

"When the time comes, you'll know." she smiled hugging her daughter to her chest and kissing her head. "Now, how about you run get your brother for me."

Miley nodded as she pulled back from the hug. She leaned forward and softly kissed her mother's lips. "Okay Mama. I love you so much."

Susan smiled sadly at her only daughter. "I love you too baby girl"

Miley grabbed her bear and headed down to the living room to look for her brother. He was sitting on the couch watching a football game with her daddy. "Jackson, mom wants you." she informed him.

Jackson jumped off the couch and ran up the stairs two at a time.

Miley sat down next to her daddy and laid her head on his shoulder. "Daddy? Mama's gonna be gone soon, isn't she?"

Robbie looked down and could only nod his head.

Miley crawled into her daddy's lap, hugged him as tightly as she could and cried her eyes out.

Robbie Ray wished he could take her pain away, but all he could do was rock her back and forth and whisper soothing words in her ear in a feeble attempt to calm the heart-broken child.

Jackson lightly knocked on his mother's open bedroom door as he entered the room. "You wanted to talk to me?" he said.

Susan smiled at her oldest. "Yes I did. Come here my baby boy." Jackson walked over to the bed and took a seat next to his mother. Susan grasped one of his hands tightly. "Do you know how proud I am of you?" she said, her voice full of emotion.

Jackson was slightly uncomfortable with the direction this chat was heading "Ma…" he said, trying to stop her from…saying goodbye?

Susan shook her head. "No, you understand better than your sister what is going to happen and how things are going to change. And because of that, I need to ask you a favor."

Jackson dropped his eyes and nodded his head. "Anything for you ma."

Susan briefly wondered if this was a fair thing to ask of her son, but if she didn't ask Jackson, there was no one else. "Please always take care of your sister. Be there for her. In the future, things are going to get scary and she may not have found any one yet to take care of her. I need you to be that person until she does. Can you do that one thing for me?"

Jackson's eyes widened slightly as his mother's request. Sure he fought with his sister from time to time, but he would do anything for her. She was family. "Yes ma'am. I will. I promise."

Susan pulled Jackson forward into a big bear hug. "Oh sweetheart. I love you so much. I'm going to miss seeing the amazing young man I just know you're going to be."

Jackson had tried to be mature about his mother's sickness. He had tried to hide away the pain he felt and put on a good front for the rest of the family. He held Miley on many occasions while she let her emotions cry themselves out of her. Now it was Jackson's turn. He looked in his mother's eyes and simply said, "Then don't go."

This only caused Susan's eyes to water, as she fought hard to keep back the onslaught of tears those three simple words created. "I have to. But I promise I will always be watching." Susan answered as she pulled him back to her chest and held him while they both cried.

After she felt he had finally calmed down enough, she playfully ruffled his hair and gentle hit his arm. "Alright, its late. Go tell your daddy I said its time for bed. For all of us." Jackson nodded his head as he stood up from the bed.

As Jackson headed for the door, he heard his mother call out to him. "I love you Jackson Rod Stewart."

Jackson turned back to his mother and tried to freeze this one moment in his mind forever. "I love you too ma." he said and quickly rushed out the door to find his father.

Not long after Jackson had disappeared out the door, Robbie quickly reappeared. "Jackson said it was time for bed." he commented as he headed over to the chest of drawers to get his pajamas.

Susan got up from the bed and walk over slowly to stand behind her husband. "It is. And I want one last night in your arms." she said as she helped him out of his shirt.

Robbie shook his head. "Don't talk like that darlin."

Susan did not want to feel anymore sorrow tonight. She slowly slid the silk robe off her upper body and let it slide to the floor. "Robbie Ray Stewart. Please make love to me."

Robbie had never denied his wife anything, and if this was to be their last night together, then so be it. "Yes Ma'am" he said putting his arms under her rear and lifting her up. Susan wrapped her legs around his waist as their mouths joined in a fiery kiss that promised a night to remember.

Robbie carried her over to the bed where they would spend the next few hours showing each other how much they were loved, over and over again.

After a wonderfully fulfilling evening with her husband, Susan got up from the bed, leaned down and kissed him on the lips one last time.

Then like an angel, she visited both of her children and kissed each one of them on the foreheads and stroked their hair lovingly and said a final goodbye.

Her goodbyes completed, Susan went down stairs. She put on her husband's leather duster and quietly opened the front door and stepped out onto the porch just in time to see the sun peaking over the hills to welcome another day.

Susan sat down on the rocking chair on the porch and watched as the sun rose. When it was finished, she closed her eyes and softly whispered, "I'm ready."

Not much later, Robbie stepped out on the front porch heading for the barn to start the daily chores. He noticed his wife sitting on the rocker. He reached down to gently touch her shoulder and watched as his wife's body hunched forward like dead weight.

Robbie Ray dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around the frail body sitting in the rocker. "I'll miss you so much. I love you." He placed one last kiss on her quickly cooling lips. "I swear, I will make you proud."

* * *

Next chapter should be a little lighter...thank goodness. - Jess


	5. Ch 4 Heads Carolina, Tails California

**We are making progess...I am getting so excited about getting to the good stuff that this exposition stuff is killing me...**

* * *

**Chapter 4 - Heads Carolina, Tails California**

**Crowley Corners, Tennessee; December 25, 2002**

Christmas morning arrived without its usual splendor at the Stewart household. Of course the children had gifts to open and Robbie made the kids his traditional Christmas breakfast, but it was very obvious to all three Stewarts that something special was definitely missing this Christmas.

As the family sat in the living room watching the Disney Christmas parade on TV, Robbie couldn't help but look around at all the photographs that lined their living room walls. Pictures of holidays passed, the kids' school pictures, and even some candid shots from birthdays and whatnot. Even though it all seemed familiar to the singer, it somehow didn't feel like home anymore.

After the funeral, Robbie had been approached by his management about what was best for him. The label knew that with Susan's death, Robbie was going to have to take care of his children. They knew what a devoted family man he was. The president of the label thought so highly of Robbie Ray that he had flown down from New York to make an appearance at the funeral home and extend his personal condolences to the country singer.

Robbie had been considering everything that everyone had been telling him over the past week. His days of touring were clearly over. He could probably make another studio album or two, but he just felt like it was the right time to walk away. Without Susan, it just didn't seem to be worth it anymore. They'd been very careful with their money over the years, and even though they didn't totally spoil the children, they certainly could have. Robbie knew that the seven figures sitting in the bank would take care of the three of them for quite some time.

Finally, he decided that before he could make any decisions about their collective futures, he needed to ask his kids how they felt about what he was planning to do.

Robbie picked up the remote, and muted the television set. "Kids, can we have a family meeting?"

Miley and Jackson looked at each other skeptically until Jackson finally replied for both of them. "Um, sure dad."

Robbie sat forward on the edge on the couch, folded his hands, and placed his elbows on his knees. He took a deep breath and began what was surely to be a tense conversation. "I've been thinking over the past week about how things are different around here now and I've made a decision." he said pausing at the end of his statement to gather his courage.

Jackson watched his father clearly struggling with whatever it was he wanted to talk about. "What is it dad?" he prodded gently.

Was there really any easy way to do this? When in doubt, rip the band aid off. "We're gonna sell the farm." he said in a calm, quiet voice.

Jackson immediately jumped up from where he was sitting on the floor. "What?" At the same time Miley wailed from the recliner she was sitting on. "Daddy no!"

Robbie's hands shot out in a defensive posture. Robbie expected them to protest at first, no matter what. This was all they had known their whole lives. He just had to do his best to calmly persuade them to see his point of view. "Now hold on a minute. Here me out. Your mama did a lot to keep this farm running smoothly, and as ashamed as I am to admit it, I really don't know how she did it." he said dropping his eyes to the floor.

Miley got out of the recliner and walked over to sit next to her father on the couch. She wrapped her small arms around his left one. "We helped daddy. We did our chores everyday." she proudly told him.

Robbie smiled at Miley. She was a little darlin. "Tell me the truth, do either one of you see yourselves living on a farm for the rest of your lives?" he asked looking first at Miley, then at Jackson.

Jackson was the first to begrudgingly admit, "Not really." As soon as Jackson gave his answer, Miley quickly wasted no time voicing her disgust at the idea. "No way!"

Robbie smiled a crooked grin at his children. "I thought as much. And guess what, I never wanted to run a farm neither. But when your Great Uncle Roy died and left the farm to us, we weren't in no position to turn down such a generous gift. Don't get me wrong, I would not have changed a minute here with you mama for the world, but…" Robbie said, his voice trailing off at the end as he tried to convey to his kids exactly what he was feeling in his heart. "I always wanted something different. I thought that my singing career was going to get Susan and I away from our small town roots and see the world." He prayed he was making some sense to his kids. "I want that for you guys. I want you to have opportunities…" he finished.

Robbie glanced at each of his children. Both seemed to understand what he was saying, but neither one of them had spoken yet. Since neither child took the opportunity to offer any opinions during Robbie's pause, he continued.

"Now, not long ago, I was approached by my record company about my situation. They wanted to know if I'd be willing to write my songs for other folks. It would still make good money but I could still be here for you kids." Robbie noticed that Jackson was beginning to put everything together in his mind and he didn't look too thrilled with where this runaway train seemed to be heading.

Robbie inhaled deeply, looked his son in the eye, and dropped the bomb. "And best of all, I could technically do it from anywhere."

Jackson looked ready to spit nails.

Miley tugged on his arm to get his attention away from Jackson. "Does that mean we're moving daddy?"

Robbie sighed and nodded his head. "Yeah Bud, I think it does. I can see how you two might be mad at me for this, but I believe in my heart that this is the right thing to do." he said trying to calm the storm that was quite obviously raging inside of Jackson.

Jackson gritted his teeth and finally ground out two simple words. "How soon?"

Robbie frowned at his son, silently praying that he would keep his composure for his sister's sake. "Well Junior, you don't make this kind of decision and move the next day. It'll probably take several months to find a buyer for the farm, buy a house somewhere else for us to live, pack our stuff, etc. etc."

Jackson nodded at this logic, "So will we be able to finish the school year?" he inquired.

Robbie Ray nodded. "I would say so. Summer sounds like the perfect time of year to move."

Once again, a tug on his left shirt sleeve caught his attention and he looked down at his daughter. "Where will we go daddy?" she asked, her eyes wide with the prospect of going someplace new and exciting.

Robbie chuckled. At least one of his children seemed okay with the idea. "Well, that's a toss up. There's lots of different places we could go. New York, Houston, Miami, Seattle, Detroit, Atlanta, Columbia, Los Angeles…where would you guys like to go?" he asked after rattling off some of the possibilities.

Miley piped up first. "Someplace warm." she said as she snuggled closer to her father's side.

Robbie chuckled and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Sounds like we aren't going to New York then."

"Someplace with a beach nearby." Jackson sighed softly.

Robbie looked up in shock as his son had just made a relatively quiet request, so soft that Robbie wanted to make certain he had heard him correctly. "The beach?"

Jackson began nervously shuffling his feet on the carpet. "Well, that's where we always went on our vacations, and we always had so much fun I just thought…" he trailed off not wanting to mention his mother's passing.

Robbie looked up with a huge grin. Even though Jackson didn't want to say it out loud, it was the perfect solution. Susan adored the beach, and on more than one vacation she had commented to him that if their situation were different, she would have loved to live on the beach. "I think that sounds like a wonderful idea son." he said clearing his throat trying not to let his children catch on to how much Jackson's sentiment meant to him. "So from the sounds of it, you guys are interested in California or Florida, huh? Well, do you guys have any opinions on those two places?"

Jackson crossed his arms over his chest and scrunched up his face in distaste. "My social studies teacher says that Florida has mostly old people."

Ronnie Ray chuckled. "Well I don't think that is exactly what they meant, but I think I know what you're trying to say."

Once again Robbie felt a tug on his arm. "California has all those famous singers that you could work for, right daddy?"

Robbie nodded. "I would think so darlin."

Miley also nodded her head. And just like that, she had decided. "I think we should move to California then."

Robbie turned to see how Jackson felt about California. "How you feel about that Junior?"

Jackson just shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever." he grumbled.

Robbie gently pulled out of Miley's hold, stood up, and walked over to stand in front of Jackson. He placed a hand on his shoulder and bent down to look him in the eye as he spoke. "Now son, I am asking you a very important question that is going to affect the next 6 years of your life. Is 'whatever' all you want to say before we do this?"

Jackson could no longer control his emotions. "Why does it matter what I say? You're gonna do whatever you want and we have to go along with it no matter what! If mom were here, you wouldn't even think about doing something like this!" he shouted and ran out of the living room to the kitchen. Jackson threw on his winter coat and stormed out the kitchen door, slamming it behind him.

Robbie Ray closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Damn." he swore softly

A small voice broke the silence that had suddenly fallen over the living room. "Daddy?"

"Yes baby girl?" he said.

Miley wasn't sure why she was making the offer, maybe it was because it would have been their mom that would chased after him. "I'll go get him." she told her father.

Robbie Ray considered arguing with her about not going outside because it was too cold or telling her that this was between the two of them, but in the end all he said was "Alright Bud."

Miley grabbed her winter coat and slipped on a pair of boots. As she headed outside, she noticed that the snow had really started coming down. 'Only my goober brother would run outside in the middle of a snowstorm!' she thought, looking around for signs of where her brother had gone. Fresh footprints gave him away. 'The barn.'

Miley followed Jackson's footsteps up to the large red barn that was seated off to the right of the house. She went inside and looked all around for her brother. "Jackson!"

A voice from above her called out. "Leave me alone Miles."

Miley sighed in frustration. She wasn't an adult by any means, but even she could tell that Jackson was acting like a child. "Why are you being like this?" Miley couldn't tell exactly where he was, but she was certain that he was in the hayloft.

"You wouldn't understand." she heard him mutter.

Miley put her hands on her hips. "How do you know?" she said.

Jackson stood up from the hay bale he had been sitting on. "Because you are the apple of everyone's eye!" he roared, pointing an accusing finger at her. "The cute one. The innocent one. The great singer. You were never the weirdo or the freak or the dummy." he yelled as he walked closer to the railing so he could lean over to look at her. "You weren't in school when I was totally miserable cause all the kids were picking on me." he said, his grasp tightening on the railing he was holding. "Finally one day I came home bawling like a baby. Mom took one look at me and made me tell her the names of every kid that had ever picked on me. The next day, she took me to school and talked to every name on that list. They never teased me again after that day. I don't know what she said, but…" Jackson trailed off.

Miley knew that whatever came after the 'but' was important. "But what?"

Jackson closed his eyes and lowered his head. " I don't think I can go through that again without her."

Miley didn't know what to do. She's never seen her brother so sad. He was always lively and upbeat. "Jackson, that was a long time ago." she tried saying.

Jackson never opened his eyes and just shook his head. "Seems like yesterday to me."

Miley racked her brain trying to come up with anything to calm him down. "Are you afraid you won't make new friends if we move?"

Jackson shrugged his shoulders in response. "I don't know. Maybe?"

Miley ran her hands up and down her arms. It was getting colder. "But Jackson, you'll have me. And dad. What more do you really need?"

"Mom." he softly whispered.

Miley was trying to be patient and understanding, but she was cold...darn it, and she wanted to go back inside. "Fine. Then ask daddy if you can go live with Mamaw!" She said throwing her hands in the air. She turned and started walking back to the barn door.

Jackson's eyes bugged out of his head. "And where would you live?" he yelled at her retreating back.

"With daddy." she shot back over her shoulder.

"No!" he screamed vehemently.

The sudden piercing scream stopped Miley dead in her tracks. She slowly turned aback around. "What do you mean no? Wouldn't it solve the problem?"

He shook his head repeatedly at her. "No. I can't leave you. I have to protect you."

Miley smiled, finally having a little leverage. "Then you have to come to California with me." she told him with an evil grin.

Jackson huffed, but knew that he had to stay with Miley no matter what happened. He promised. "Fine. I'll go to California with you, but you have to tell dad you had to cry to convince me."

Miley spit out a sudden burst of laughter at her brother's statement. "Deal. Now get down here so we can go inside before we freeze to death."

Jackson stepped away from the railing and slowly walked towards the ladder to climb down from the hayloft. "Miles its not that…cooooold!!!!" As Jackson said the last word, his foot slid on some ice that had formed under the loose hay laying on the floor of the hayloft.

Miley watched helplessly as her brother fell head first from the hayloft. She threw her hands out in front of her, closed her eyes and kept repeating to herself 'please don't die, please don't die'.

Jackson's body suddenly stopped in mid air about three feet above the barn floor. He was hanging upside down with his arms out to the sides. As he stared at the ground, his mind couldn't process exact what was going on. Finally, he called out to the only person that could help him. "MILEY!!!"

Miley opened her eyes and was shocked at the sight before her. "Are you okay?" she tentatively asked.

Jackson's eyes moved from side to side, but his facial features were about the only thing he could move. "I, uh, guess so, but I can't move."

Miley started lowering her arms and when she did, Jackson sank closer to the floor.

Jackson quickly put two and two together and called out to his sister. "Miley STOP!!!"

Miley's hands shot back up, and once again so did Jackson.

After Jackson got over the queasiness in his stomach, he thought he had an inkling about what was happening. "Okay now Miles. I don't even wanna think how this works, but you are holding me in the air somehow. Please. Don't. Drop. Me." he begged his little sister.

Miley was terrified, but still managed a sarcastic reply for her brother, "Great. No pressure or nothing." she shot back at him, rolling her eyes.

Jackson took a calming breath then spoke slowly. "Very slowly lower your arms and see if you can turn me over on the way down."

Miley did as she was told and tried making a circle in the air with her right index finger. As she did, Jackson slowly flipped over. Once he was vertical, Miley finished lowering her arms, placing Jackson safely on the floor of the barn.

Jackson looked at the ground under his feet and said a quick prayer. "Thank you God." he looked up and into the eyes of his frightened sister.

As he began walking towards her, Miley seemed to cower in fear. "Miles, what's wrong?" Jackson asked.

"I'm sorry?" she told him in a shaky voice.

Jackson was amazed that his sister just saved his life and was now apologizing to him. "I was going to give my baby sister a hug for saving my life if that's ok?" He replied with a huge grin on his face.

Miley's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Really?"

Jackson rolled his eyes. "No, I'm lying. Yes! Really!" He said as he finished closing the distance between them and wrapped his sister in a tight hug. "You saved me." he whispered.

After a minute, Miley pulled back from the hug. "Are you…are you afraid of me?" she asked in a timid voice.

Jackson just smiled and shook his head. "Of course not. You're my sister. Why would I be afraid of you?"

Miley shrugged her shoulders. "Mama said that if people found out what I could do that they might be afraid of me."

Jackson's face softened and he gently gave her arm a tug. "Come on Miles. Let's go inside where its warm and we can talk about it, ok?"

"Ok." she answered and let her brother lead them back to the farm house.

Robbie ran was still in the living room when the kids came back inside the house. When he heard the front door close, he patiently waited for them to return to the living room. "Everything alright?" she asked them, noticing that Miley looked a little shaky.

Jackson nodded. "Yeah dad. Everything's fine."

Robbie eyed his daughter worriedly. "Bud? You alright?"

Miley ran her hands up and done her arms trying to fight off the chill in her body and the memory of what could have happened in the barn moments ago. "Yeah daddy, it was just really cold outside. I'm gonna go take a quick bath to warm up."

Jackson nodded his head in agreement. "That's a pretty good idea sis. I think I'll grab a shower myself."

Robbie nodded his head. They seemed alright, but something had definitely happened between them while they were outside. Robbie was certain of that much. "Alright, you kids go get clean and warmed up and I'll make us something for lunch, alright?"

"Ok dad." They responded in unison and headed for the stairs.

Once upstairs, Jackson followed Miley into her room. "So how did you do that?" he asked sitting down on her bed.

Miley just shook her head. "I uh, don't really know."

Jackson scrunched up his face in confusion. "Do you know what makes it happen? Like something that triggers it or sets it off?"

Miley shrugged. "Well, stuff just happens now when I want it to. Sometimes the lights turn off if I want it to be dark, or something will fly into my hand if I need it, or… something will stop from falling and breaking." She finished softly, her mind again replaying what could have happened.

Jackson seemed surprised at her answer. "Well can you make it happen , or does it just happen when 'it' wants to?" he asked as he made air quotes with his fingers when he said 'it'.

Miley just shrugged again. She wasn't trying to avoid answering her brother's questions, but she didn't really have answers. "Well, kinda both I guess." She told him shaking her head. "Does any of this make any sense to you?"

Once again, the wheels in Jackson's head were spinning. "Actually, it does. Have you ever read any of my comic books?"

Miley gave him an incredulous look. "Um, no." she deadpanned.

Jackson could tell his sister thought he was being stupid. "Well, maybe you should, cause it sounds to me like you can do the kind of stuff that they write about." he explained.

"Like what?" she asked, taking a seat next to him on the bed.

Jackson turned his body to face his sister. "Well, it's kinda like, you're Jean Grey."

Again, Miley gave him n odd look. "Who?"

Jackson sighed. "One of the X-Men, but that's besides the point. In the books, she's telekinetic. She can move stuff with her mind."

Miley shook her head. "But I didn't…"

Jackson chuckled in response. "Yes, you did."

Miley sighed. At this point, she was willing to consider any possibility. "Okay. So what do we do about it?" She asked, staring down at her bed spread.

"Well, do you want anyone to know about what you can do?" He asked softly.

Miley's face shot up and her body went rigid. "No!!! Mama said not to tell anyone!!"

That statement threw Jackson for a loop. "Wait, mom knew?"

Miley briefly considered if she had already said too much to Jackson, but at this point how could she keep anything from him. He had just experienced her ability firsthand. "Yeah, she said I had forgotten, but that I needed to remember."

Jackson considered Miley's statement and scratched the side of his head. "I think there is more to this story. I think we should talk to dad."

"WHAT??" Miley could not believe what Jackson was suggesting.

Jackson rolled his eyes. "Oh come on. Who on this Earth do you trust more than dad?"

Miley begrudgingly conceded his point. "I guess your right."

"Come on." Jackson said pulling her by the arm and leading her back down stairs.

Robbie Ray was in the kitchen whistling a Christmas carol while he worked on putting their lunch together. He was a little surprised to see both of his kids back downstairs when clearly neither one of them had gotten a shower or a bath.

Jackson stood behind Miley with his hands on her shoulders. "Hey dad. Can we have a family meeting before lunch?"

Again, Robbie wasn't quite sure what was going on, but he was certain that something was definately bothering Miley. "Sure son. Miles, you alright?" he asked as he sat down at the table.

Miley and Jackson each took seats at the table across from their father. "Daddy, did mama ever tell you anything odd about me?" she asked in a small voice.

Robbie tipped his head to the side trying to figure out what she might have been referring to. "What do you mean darling?"

Miley sighed. She desperately hoped Jackson was right and that her father would be understanding. "Well, the night before she passed away, she told me that I had forgotten something, but it was important that I remember it. After she said that to me, I could suddenly do this…thing."

Robbie Ray's eyes narrowed slightly. "What thing?"

Miley looked down the kitchen table. The napkin holder was sitting at the end of it with a salt and pepper shaker next to it. She thought about wanting the salt in her hand, and everyone was watching the salt shaker slowly slide down the table into Miley's hand. "That thing." she finally answered.

Robbie sat back in his chair as a look oh understanding crossed his rugged features. He closed his eyes and shook his head. "I always thought it was Susan." he said softly.

Now it was Jackson's turn to be totally confused. "What?"

Robbie Ray thought about what his daughter had shown him. It took a lot of faith for her to ask him about this, and no doubt some prodding from her brother. He felt he needed to be completely honest with them in return. "Miley, when you were little, I used to see random things floating in the air, but I always thought it was your mother doing it." He smiled as he felt like he was being handed the last piece to a jigsaw puzzle. "It was you."

Jackson never could have predicted that their conversation would go like this. He didn't know how he expected his father to act, shock, disbelief, confusion, but relief never crossed his mind. "Dad, you're kinda getting freaky on us."

Robbie Ray smiled. "When Miley was a baby, toys and stuffed animals had a habit of becoming airborne. It must have been you doing it." He said pointing at Miley.

Miley finally joined the conversation. "Why would you think it was mom?" she asked.

Robbie Ray had already made his mind up. He was going to tell them everything. "A long time ago, your momma and me made a decision. We were hurting financially, so she took part in an experiment to get us some money to keep the farm. It wasn't anything dangerous, but it was experimental and it paid real well. The only thing was, they warned us up front that it might cause side effects. And well, after the experiment, your mama changed a little bit."

"What do you mean?" Miley said, encouraging him to continue his story.

Robbie Ray thought about how to explain what he meant to his children. "Well, you're mama always knew how to speak her mind, but after that day in the hospital, she became very timid." he explained. "But when she did speak…" Robbie Ray's eyes seemed to gaze over as he finally admitted to himself something that he had missed for years. "you felt like you just had to do what she said." As he finished his statement, he felt like the final piece was just put in place.

Jackson and Miley looked at one another. "Mom would just tell us to stop fighting, and we did." Jackson reminded his sister.

Miley nodded. "And you said she went to school that one time…" she said, afraid to continue in case Jackson didn't wish to share that particular pain with their father.

Jackson nodded. "And it never happened again…wow." Jackson thought for a minute that if what his father was saying was true, his mama could have made anyone do anything.

Robbie Ray tried to piece together the pseudo-conversation his children were having in front of him. "So, are you two agreeing with that I was saying, cause y'all ain't making much sense over there to me."

Miley turned back to look at her father once again and nodded her head. "Yeah dad. We know exactly what you mean."

Jackson thought he had figured out how this whole situation worked, but he just needed one more thing clarified for him. "So are you saying she just made Miley forget she could do this stuff?"

Robbie thought back to that last night in their room and the words she had said to him 'Miley has a special gift, it was taken from her a long time ago, but sometime pretty soon, she is going to get it back.' As soon as he remembered his wife's words, he shook his head affirmatively. "Yes sir. That is exactly what I am saying she did."

Jackson nodded. "So, what do we do?"

Robbie Ray smiled and reached across the table to take his daughter's hand. "Well, I guess we follow your mama's lead and try and keep it as hushed up as possible." he said looking and Jackson, and then he turned to Miley. "And Miley I think you need to practice to make sure you can control when it does and doesn't happen."

Relief rushed through Miley's body when her father took her hand. "Okay daddy." she told him with a big grin on her face. Everything was going to be alright. It might be a little strange along the way, but with her brother and father at her side, everything would work out fine. She could just tell.

Jackson stood up from the table and squeezed his sister's shoulder. "And dad?"

Robbie turned his head up to look at Jackson. "Yes Junior?"

Jackson smiled and shook his head. "I think California's gonna be a great place to live." he said as he headed back towards the living room.

Robbie Ray couldn't hide the big grin on his face. Something had happened out in that barn, he was sure of it. It was something special between the two of them. If they decided to tell him eventually, he would listen to them, but he vowed to himself he would never ask. He would just thank God for bringing his family closer together.

* * *

No Lilly again...but guess what? Next chapter is all hers. - Jess


	6. Ch 5 When Love is Gone

**Chapter 5 - When Love is Gone**

**Malibu, California; February 6, 2003**

It had been nearly five years since Lilly and her mother had shared their secrets with one another. Heather had spent a lot of time with Lilly, trying to help 'train' her how to use her ability and not let it use her.

Lilly had begged her mother to let her share her secret with her best friend Oliver. Unfortunately for the tomboy, Heather had been adamant that if they were still friends when they were older, then _maybe_ she could tell him. Heather was not about to put her daughter's life into the hands of an 11-year-old boy. Oliver was a sweet kid, but he was also a bit of an idiot.

Over the past year, Lilly's parents had been fighting a lot more than she had remembered in the past. Lilly tried her best to stay out of trouble, but no matter how good she was, her father still seemed to find something he was unhappy about.

It was Saturday afternoon. Lilly had just sat down for lunch with her parents... that's when the fighting started.

John glared at his wife while he poured himself some iced tea from the pitcher on the table. "Why aren't you working today?" he growled at her.

Heather's eyes narrowed in anger. She was sick and tired of having the exact same arguments time and time again. "I didn't have any appointments today, so I thought I would take the day off." she explained in a low tone.

John slammed the now empty pitcher down on the dining room table. "How are you supposed to sell houses if you spend all your time sitting at home on your ass!?" he shouted.

Lilly's eyes bugged out of her head. She had heard some of her parents' fights in the past, but she had never heard either of them swear at the other. This was not going to end well.

Heather could feel a fire rise within her. Her face reddened from the anger coursing through her body. At the same time, her body temperature was rising as her power reacted to the possible threat that John presented at that moment. She stood up from her seat and slammed her hands on the table. "How dare you?" she snarled back at him.

Lilly had her forearms resting against the table as she looked back and forth between her parents. She noticed that her arms were starting to feel hot. She realized that the only place they were hot was where they touched the table. Lilly quickly pulled her arms back away from the table and set her silverware down. Lilly had never seen her mother use her power like this before. Heck, she was willing to bet her mother didn't even know she was doing it. Her father was entering dangerous territory.

John stood up and threw his napkin down on the table in disgust. "I work long hard hours so that we can maintain our lifestyle. It would be nice if you helped pull your fair share of the weight." he screamed, glaring daggers at her.

Heather inhaled deeply and turned to her daughter. Her voice was calm as she spoke. "Lillian?"

As soon as Lilly heard her mother use her full name, the blonde knew she would do anything her mother said. "Yes, mom?" she asked in a small voice.

"Are you done eating?" she asked.

Lilly looked down at her still mostly filled plate. "Ah, yeah, I think I am." she said, figuring that was what her mother wanted to hear.

Heather smiled. "Good, will you please go outside for a little while?" she said in a sickeningly sweet sounding voice. Even though it was said in the form of a question, it really wasn't. It was a command; and Lilly knew it.

Lilly's mom was kind and caring. She was never cruel or angry, but at that moment, she wondered if her father had finally pushed her mother to the edge. "Sure mom." she said as she pushed her chair away from the table. She quickly made her way to the front door. She grabbed her skateboard and helmet, then walked out the door, closing it quietly behind her.

Heather waited until Lilly was safely out of the house before addressing her husband once more. "Did you have to do that in front of our daughter?" she snarled at him.

"Truth hurt?" he spat. He walked away from the table and heading into the living room.

Heather took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. As she lifted her hands from the table, she noticed a faint outline of her hands imbedded in the table. Heather sighed. She followed him into the living room and tried to speak in a steady voice. "Do we need more money? 6 figures a year isn't enough?" she questioned.

John did not turn around to face her. "Well, considering 80% of those figures are mine, no not really." he shot back in a venomous tone.

Heather sighed as she brought her hand up to rub her temple. "I can't control the housing market John." she reminded him. Real estate was in a constant state of flux. Currently, it was in a downswing, but things were starting to improve. Interest rates were on the rise and you could now get a great rate on a mortgage. Heather expected that over the next year, she would be seeing a significant increase in housing sales.

John finally turned around to look at Heather. "Maybe you should consider switching careers then." he said matter-of-factly.

Heather frowned at his suggestion. She had worked as a real estate agent for 15 years. "I like what I do." she said crossing her arms over her chest defiantly.

"Well, I don't." he responded.

This fight made no sense. Yes, they had argued about this very thing in the past, but John had never been this adamant about it. Something wasn't right. It was almost like John was using this to cover up what he was really angry about. Heather's eyes narrowed as she glared menacingly at her husband. "What are you really angry about? Don't tell me its about money."

Finally, the truth reveiled itself in a single outburst. "I don't like being kept in the dark. I don't like being ignored. And I don't like being lied to!!!" he thundered, breathing heavily.

Heather stepped back. She didn't really think it was going to come out quite so quickly. "What am I lying about?" she asked questioningly.

John pointed toward the front door. "When were you going to admit that my daughter was a freak?" he bellowed.

Heather was beyond pissed now. "EXCUSE ME?" she said as she walked over and stood in front of his face.

John glared down at his smaller wife. "You heard me." he said in a low tone that was laced with disgust.

Heather put her hands on her hips and refused to back down from her husband of 14 years. "And you would be referring to WHAT exactly?"

John's teeth locked together as he hissed back at his wife. "I saw her walk thru a WALL yesterday!!!" he said, his voice increasing in volume with each word he spoke.

Heather expected as much after he called Lilly a freak, so she wasn't overly surprised by his revelation. She crossed her arms over her chest. "And how did I lie to you about anything?" she asked, arching an eyebrow at him.

John grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her twice roughly. "You knew. Don't deny it."

Heather brought her hands up and knocked her husband's hands away from her shoulders. "Of course I knew. So what? No one knows other than me and apparently you. Are you going to try and turn your own daughter in so they can do only god knows what kind of experiments on her?" she shouted at him.

John shook her head. "No. She is still my daughter." John turned on his heels and walked a few steps away from Heather before turning back to address her again. "But did it ever occur to you what will happen if anyone does find out and wants to get a hold of her? Who do you think they are going to use to get to her?"

Heather understood what he was saying, she just couldn't believe this is what he'd been so upset about. "Probably me."

John rolled his eyes. "Ha! Yeah, I don't think so." He pointed at his wife "You could burn someone to a crisp." he pointed out.

Once again, Heather could feel her body temperature rise. John was playing with fire, literally. And pretty soon, he was going to get burned. "You have got to be kidding me!!! Are you that self-centered that you're worried someone might hurt you to get to our daughter?" she had never before wanted to hit someone, but right now, she desperately wanted to slap some sense into her husband.

John noticed his wife's defensive stance. He wasn't sure if he was imagining it or not, but Heather seemed to have a haze around her, like when you go outside on a hot day and the air above the pavement looks blurry. "It's a fact. And it's only a matter of time. Someone is going to find out eventually." he said, turning around and taking a few steps away from his wife, trying to put some distance between them. "If she didn't know I caught her…how long until she gets caught in public when she thinks no one's looking? Or even worse…video taped!" he said, throwing his hands in the air.

Heather had heard enough. Clearly, vows that they had promised each other years ago no longer mattered. John was only interested in his own safety, while Heather was worried about their family. John's selfishness was not something that would go away and Heather would not let anything endanger Lilly's welfare. John's paranoia would do more damage to their daughter;s well being than some nameless stranger ever could.

At last, Heather gathered her courage to say the words that needed to be said. "Then maybe it would be in your best interest to get as far away from her…and I as possible." she said in a confident tone.

John narrowed his eyes at her. He never expected his wife to tell him to leave. "Is that a threat?"

Heather shook her head. "It's not, but I can make it one if you'd prefer." she answered. She would probably be crushed later, but right now, this was about her daughter. Most smart people know that it is never wise to threaten a mother's young.

John pursed his lips together. So this was it. The end. There was no crying, no begging, no heart wrenching professions of love, just one simple statement and it was over. "Fine. I'll pack and be gone tonight." he told her and headed towards the stairs.

After Lilly had rushed out the door. She put her helmet on. The blonde ran across the lawn and threw her board down on the sidewalk. The skater jumped on, pumping as fast as she could to get as far from her house as quickly as possible.

At first, she didn't really have a destination in mind, but her body went on auto pilot. Before she realized it, she was in front of her best friend Oliver's house.

Oliver was outside working on some of his skateboarding tricks in his driveway when he noticed Lilly flying down the sidewalk.

"Woah, slow down super girl. Where's the fire?" he called out to her. Oliver was always the more reserved of the two of them. Oliver may have been daring, but Lilly was a daredevil.

Lilly rolled her eyes at her best friend. 'Oliver, if you only knew.' She thought as she jumped off her board and let it roll into the grass. She ripped her helmet off and tossed it on the grass, near her board. She walked towards her best friend and stopped a few feet away from him. She wasn't sure what to do. Even though she was very much a girl, her relationship with Oliver was definitely more of a tomboy-boy relationship. They played sports together and hung out, but they rarely 'talked' about things. Sure, they talked about school and last night's hockey game, but they never talked about personal stuff.

Lilly desperately tried to find the words, but all she could manage was a stuttered greeting. "Uh, hey…there Ol-oliver." she said as she rocked back and forth on her heels with her hands buried in her jean pockets.

Oliver had come to know Lilly pretty well over the years. He had seen her in a lot of different moods; happy, sad, playful, tired, moody, pissed, but he had never seen her look as distraught as she was right now. "What's up Lils? Why do you look so sad?"

When Oliver mentioned being sad, Lilly's female hormones kicked in with a vengeance. Her eyes welled with tears. The blonde suddenly flung herself into Oliver's arms and held onto him for dear life. "My-my p-parents are…" she tried to explain to him as her body was wracked with uncontrollable sobs.

Oliver may not have been the manliest man in the world, but he knew how to be a friend. And even though he didn't think he would be very good at giving advice or trying to fix a problem, he knew that it wasn't hard at all to be a shoulder to cry on. "Oh Lils, I'm sorry." Oliver let her cry for a minute, then pulled back slightly. "Wanna go sit down and…I don't know, talk about it...or not talk about it…whatever you wanna do, okay?"

Lilly smiled through her tears. She released her grip on his neck and wrapped her arms around one of his. They walked over to the front porch and sat down on the steps. Oliver put his arm around her shoulder and gently tugged the teary eyed girl towards him. Lilly was all too accepting of the shoulder. After a few minutes of peaceful silence, Oliver's curiosity could be quelled no longer. "So, do you want to tell me what happened?" he asked.

Lilly took a deep breath and began rehashing the horrible memory that had occurred at her house not ten minutes ago.

It took Lilly about five minutes to get through the story as she had to keep stopping and taking deep breaths to keep herself from crying all over again. Finally she reached the end of her story. "And the worst part, mom kicked me out before I got to finish my lunch!" she said and made a 'can you believe that' face.

Oliver chuckled. Finally, something he definitely knew how to deal with. "So does this mean you're hungry?" he asked with a knowing smile on his face.

Lilly released his arm, and leaned away from Oliver as if she had just been insulted. She went from 'can you believe that' face to 'did you really just say that' face in 1 second flat. She held up one finger in front of his face. "Rule number one, I am always hungry." She added a second finger. "Rule number two, see rule number one." she replied to him with a playful smile on her face.

Oliver slapped his knees and stood up from the porch. "Well then, sounds like we have a destination then. Rico's?" he said, holding out one hand to her.

"Oh my God, I would kill for some nachos grande right now!!" she moaned, as she allowed him to pull her up and they headed down toward the beach.

Three hours after arriving at Oliver's house, she was finally heading home. Lilly had a great time with Oliver down at the beach. They had gotten something to eat, then they joined in a volleyball game. A little competitive athletic activity was just what the doctor order. After Lilly's team had finally won, 3 sets to 2, they decided to call it a day. They walked back to Oliver's house so Lilly could grab her skate stuff and head back home.

Currently, Lilly was riding her skateboard back from Oliver's. As she was about three houses away from hers, she noticed her father outside. She wasn't sure what he was doing, but it had something to do with his car. As she rolled closer, she noticed the boxes lined up on the driveway wall. Her dad was packing them into his car.

Lilly was so pre-occupied with what her father was doing, that she didn't notice the large rock on the sidewalk. As the wheel hit the rock, the skateboard stopped dead. Unfortunately, momentum kept Lilly's body going forward.

In every person's life, there is one defining moment. Lilly knew she could keep herself from getting hurt if she used her gift. She also knew that if she used her gift right in front of her father, it would be a disaster...so a split second decision was made to stay as solid as possible.

Lilly didn't know that her decision was going to have quite an extreme effect on her body. As her shoulder hit the ground, it was as if someone had dropped a 200 lb steel bowling ball on the cement. The cement molded around her shoulder like play doh.

When Lilly's body finally came to a complete stop, she was confused. She just wiped out. On cement. SOMETHING should hurt. She quickly looked down at her arm to assess the damage. The t-shirt sleeve was torn in seveal places, but the skin underneath was perfect. Not a scratch. 'Whoo-hoo.' she thought.

Lilly finally pushed herself up off the ground and was dumbfounded by sight before her. There in the cement sidewalk in front of her was an indentation of her shoulder and arm. "Oh shit." she said staring at what her body had just done for the first time.

"You…you…"

Lilly turned her head to see her father standing two feet behind her. 'Ut oh.' she thought. 'Mom's gonna kill me!'

If John Truscott wasn't frighten for his life before, he was absolutely terrified now. If his little 11-year-old daughter was capable of physical destruction like that, what could an adult with those kinds of abilities do. Even worse, what could they do to a human body. John shuddered at the thought. He slowly started backing away from his only child.

Lilly tipped her head in confusion. Why all of the sudden was father acting …very nervous. She knew he had to have seen what just happened, but surely he wasn't afraid of her. Right? "Daddy?" she questioned.

"Ye..yes Lillian." he stuttered, still slowly inching backwards.

"Where are you going?" she innocently. She waited with baited breath to see if he told her why he is backing away from her or why he was packing his car.

John stopped dead in his tracks. Then he realized that he was now standing next to the few remaining boxes that he still needed to pack. "Out of town." he simply answered.

Lilly knew this wasn't like his usual business trips. You don't pack cardboard boxes to go on a business trip. She stared at her feet. "Well, when will you be back?" she asked timidly.

John lowered his head to the ground in shame. He didn't want to outright lie to his daughter but he didn't want to give her false hope either. "I'm not sure."

John sighed at himself in frustration. 'This is ridiculous. She's your daughter...' he mentally chastised himself for his own foolishness. 'You can at least give the girl a proper goodbye, if only to keep her from wanting to hurt you.' John walked back over in front of Lilly and got down on one knee. "You take care of your mom while I'm gone ok?" he said.

Lilly realized that he was saying goodbye. "Sure dad." she replied. But how did he mean it?

John reached forward and wrapped his daughter in his arms and gave her a big hug. "I love you." he told her and kissed the side of her head. "I'm sorry if it didn't always seem like it." he softly apologized.

There it was. One small word. Didn't. Past tense. Lilly felt the tears well in her eyes. "I love you too daddy." she whispered softly in his ear, wondering if she just held on long enough, if he wouldn't leave.

"I'll see you again soon." he said as he finally released his hold on her. "Now go see your mother." he said, pushing Lilly towards the house and playfully smacking her butt.

Lilly wiped furiously at her eyes, not wanting her mother to see her crying. She knew as she walked toward the front door that her parents would be getting a divorce. She knew it in her heart. The way her father that just talked to her was a dead give-a-way. There was no doubt that she loved her father, but it was more like she respected him as her father. Her mother on the other hand was her everything. Her confidant. Her secret keeper. Her best friend. If this was what her mother wanted, then Lilly would be okay with it.

John rushed over and grabbed the last few boxes and shoved them into the car. As he got in and started his car, he took one last long look at his home of eleven years. John Truscott closed his eyes and said a silent goodbye. As he pulled out of the driveway, he was certain that he would never return.

Lilly walked through the front door still wiping the last remnants of tears from her eyes. She saw her mother sitting on the living room couch clutching a tissue, and sniffling quietly.

"Mom?" Lilly called out softly as not to frighten her. "Why are you crying?" she asked as was walked over and sat next to her mother. Lilly was pretty sure she knew exactly what had her mother so upset, but she wanted the older blonde to be the first one to say the words out loud.

Heather turned her red-rimmed eyes to her daughter and sighed deeply. "Oh sweetheart. We need to talk." she said reaching down to clasp Lilly's hand in her own.

Lilly gave a her mother a nervous chuckle as she suddenly remembered what had happened outside. "Yeah, but before we do that, I need you to fix something for me." she informed her as she stood up and gently pulled her mother with her. "Come outside."

Heather tried to protest. "Honey this is hardly the time…"

Lilly turned and stared down her mother. "Mom. I know something bad has happened. But no matter how bad it is, there is something worse outside. It is something totally unexplainable. My power goofed. Big time." she finished, dropping her eyes to the floor in shame for losing control of her ability.

Recognition finally flared in Heather's eyes. She pushed her daughter forward towards the door. "Show me."

Lilly hurried out the door and lead her mother the site of the accident.

Heather just stared at the hole in the cement, trying to figure out how it could have been possible for someone who usually went threw things, to suddenly not. "Lilly, how did you…?" she left her question hanging in the air.

Lilly shrugged. "I don't know. I was trying so hard not to become intangible that I think I might have…made myself impenetrable instead?" she offered as an explanation, shrugging her shoulders.

Heather sighed and closed her eyes. This wasn't something that they could hide. "And how do you expect me to fix this honey?" she asked, not having any clue what her daughter thought she could do to fix this.

Lilly made frantic gestures with her hands towards...'the problem'. "Can't you melt it? Melted sidewalk would be more believable than shoulder imprinted sidewalk, wouldn't it?" she asked. It made sense in her mind.

Heather considered what her daughter was asking her to do. Lilly had a point. She knew she could melt the cement, but what could they say as a believable story as to why it had happened? Heather looked around the area searching for ideas on how to cover up the accident. She noticed that their neighbors had already put their trash out to the curb. Perfect. She turned back to her daughter. "Hurry, go get the metal garbage can from around back, leave the garbage in it."

Lilly didn't understand what her mother was going to do with a garbage can, but she wasn't about to ask questions. She bolted towards the house and grabbed the can as she was told. She brought it back and waited for her mother to give her further instructions.

Heather looked around and made sure no one could be watching, then she crouched down and proceeded to heat the cement to a very high temperature. As the cement got hotter, the edges of the impression were slowly disappearing. They melted like butter in a frying pan.

Heather stood back up and took the garbage can from Lilly and set it on top of the soft cement. She then proceeded to push down the can into the cement.

Lilly watched her mother's actions, trying to figure out how she was improving the situation. The sidewalk would still be deformed, but now it would have a round circle in it. "Mom, how is this helping?"

Heather looked up from the can and gave her daughter a quick wink. "You'll see." she said as she leaned into the can, touched a bag of garbage and used her power to set it ablaze.

Heather admired her handiwork briefly, then pushed her daughter back towards the house. "Alright. Let's go inside."

Lilly started walking, looking back over her shoulder to see the flames rising a little higher out of the garbage can. "You're just going to leave it like that?" she asked as she opened the front door.

Heather nodded. "Yes, when it cools, if anyone questions anything, we say someone set our trash on fire and it melted the can to the sidewalk." she explained.

Lilly smiled. "Oh, you're good." she said and she launched herself into her mother's arms. "Thank you so much." After a few seconds of relief, Lilly remembered that they still had another problem to deal with. "Okay, now that my inadvertent disaster has been handled, why were you crying earlier?" she asked while still nuzzled in her mother's chest.

Heather softly stroked her daughter's hair as she continued hugging her and gave her the bad news. "Angel, you're father left."

Lilly pulled back in her mother's arms, looked up at her face, and nodded. "I know. He was the reason for the skateboarding accident. I saw him packing the car." she explained.

Heather wrapped one arm around Lilly's shoulder and led her back over to the couch. "Did he say anything to you?" she asked as they resumed their former positions.

Lilly nodded. "Just that he was leaving and didn't know when he'd be back." the smaller blonde said as she stared blankly at the floor.

Heather could tell that Lilly knew what she was going to say. Sometimes the truth can set you free and sometimes the truth is ugly, but the worst fact of all is that sometimes the truth hurts. Heather reached forward and lifted Lilly's face up so that she could meet her eyes. "I don't think your father's coming back angel." she whispered.

Lilly wasn't overly surprised, but it still hurt to have a loved one leave. "But...why?" she asked, her eyes pleading for a reason why this had to happen.

Heather's eyes narrowed as a dark shadow feel across her normally sweet features. "Because your father is a spineless chicken shit, that's why." she growled.

Lilly was shocked. She had seen her parents fight before, but she had never seen her mother this worked up over it before. "Mom?" she said, not knowing what else to say in the face of her mother's fury.

Heather recognized the glint of fear in her daughter's eyes. She closed her eyes, shook her head, and tried to reign in her still raging emotions regarding her husband. "You're father is terrified that someone is going to hurt him to get to you." she explained.

Lilly was dumbstruck. She had never even considered the possibility. "But why would he think that?"

Heather tapped an index finger on her daughter's nose. "He caught you using your powers in the house the other day." she said. Heather had also caught her daughter on several occasions, but she was pretty certain that Lilly only used her powers at home because she felt safe doing so.

Lilly was like a deer caught in headlights. "I'm s-sorry." she stuttered. "I don't keep my guard up as much at home and you said I should practice now and then so I don't forget, but I never use them outside the house..." Her sentence slowly drifted off as she looked back toward the front door and the disaster her mother had just diverted. "on purpose." she added. "So, its my fault that dad left…" she softly murmured.

"Lillian Truscott, if I ever hear those words come out of your mouth again I will…I will…set your hair on fire!" It was the most ridiculous statement that could have come out of Heather's mouth. Lilly burst out laughing and fell over on the couch.

Heather was surprised at Lilly's reaction at first, then she realized what she said prior to Lilly's fit. 'Oh my God.' she thought as she too joined her daughter in uproarious laughter.

After a few minutes, they had both calmed enough that they were no longer wheezing. Heather leaned over and grasped Lilly's hands in her own. "Angel, don't ever think that. Your father leaving us was his decision and no one else's. If he does come back, then maybe we can work things out."

Lilly nodded. Her mother always knew the right things to say and do in any situation. She was awesome like that. She sat on the edge of the couch and faced her mother. "So what does this mean for us?" she timidly asked.

Heather released her daughter's hands and leaned back on the couch, she lifted the back of her hand to rest it on her forehead dramatically. "Well, I think it means that we are going to be a single income family and I had better start selling some more houses." Then she looked over at Lilly. "And for you it means double homework. You need to figure out this new change in your ability before you break something we CAN'T fix." she said, then mumbled to herself, "not like we fixed the sidewalk exactly."

"Oh come on mom!" As she spoke, she meant to slap her hand on the coffee table for emphasis, but instead she managed to smash the corner of the oak coffee table to splinters. Lilly stared at the damage she had just inflicted then looked back at her mother and chuckled nervously. "Um, I see what you mean?"

Heather was a little surprised at first by what her daughter had just done, but then she remembered what happened to the cement outside. How many more surprises did life have in store for them? "Well, your grandmother did always call you a bull in a china shop." she said, noting how much damage Lilly had done to a solid oak table with very little effort. "Ah well." Heather shrugged her shoulders. "Your father picked out that coffee table. I never did like it." she pointed out. "And on the bright side, you can't tease me about the dining room table now." she said, waggling her finger at her little walking safety hazard.

Lilly scrunched up her face in confusion. "What happened to the dining room table?"

"Oh, just something that I would never be able to explain to our home owner's insurance." Heather deadpanned.

* * *

Well that was fun...I love Lilly...with the holidays approaching...no promises when you will see the next chapter...but guess what? THEY ARE FINALLY GOING TO MEET! WHOO-HOO!!

Love reading comments. Happy Holidays!


	7. Ch 6 First Contact

**Chapter 6 - First Contact**

**Malibu, California, April 3, 2003**

As Heather had predicted, the housing market did start improving. Heather had already sold quite a few houses in the past two months, but her crowning achievement was yet to occur.

Heather was sitting at her desk Thursday morning, finishing up some paperwork from a recent sale when the phone rang. Little did Heather know that this phone call was going to change all of their lives. "National Real Estate, Heather Truscott speaking."

Robbie Ray smiled when he heard the voice that answered. He was a very good judge of character and could already tell that Heather was going to be a sweetheart. "Hi there. I was interested in purchasing a house in the Los Angeles area." Robbie said with a smile on his face.

Heather fumbled around on her desk for a few seconds trying to find a notepad so that she could take down information on this possible new client. "Did you have any specific area in mind? Or just the city of LA itself?" she asked as she started writing furiously.

Robbie chuckled. He had never had to make a decision about where he was going to live before. In the past, someone had always told him where he would go. He figured that this would be no different. He would be all too happy to let the real estate agent guide his selection. "Well, my kids want to live near a beach. Does that limit my options?"

Heather rocked back in her chair as she answered his question. "Well, there are many fine beach communities outside of Los Angeles including Manhattan Beach, Santa Monica, and Malibu…those would be the three beachfront areas with the relatively closest commutes to Los Angeles." she said as she twirled the phone cord around her finger.

Robbie Ray took a deep breath. What he was about to do was probably not the wisest move, but he already felt like he could trust Heather. "Well, here's my story in a nutshell. My two kids and I are moving out to California. I promised them a house close to a beach. I need to be relatively close to LA for work. We need 4 bedrooms and price is truly not an obstacle." he informed her, laying his situation on the line.

Heather was slightly dumbstruck at his last statement. The kinds of people she dealt with on a daily basis were not celebrities, just regular everyday people. Despite what the man had just told her, she felt the need to clarify his statement. "Well if I may ask, what would be the highest priced house you would be interested in looking at?" she asked while gently tapping her fingers on her desk.

Robbie Ray considered for all of three seconds before answering. "Let's say top it off at a million and see what you can come up with."

Heather choked. The most she had ever sold a house for was 250,000 dollars. She reached over and grabbed her water bottle and took a quick swig and cleared her throat before answering him. "I can assure you that will give you quite an array of choices." she said trying to calm her racing heart.

Robbie Ray smiled on his end of the line. "Well good. Now, my family and I will be flying out next week-end. Think you could set us up to check out some places by then?"

Heather was writing notes like crazy. She would have so much to get prepared if she wanted to make this happen. "I can have as many appointments set up as you would like." she guaranteed him.

Robbie rubbed his chin with his hand as he considered her question. "Well, let's say five houses in the nicest beachside communities in those three areas you mentioned, alright?"

Fifteen viewings in one day. Holy shit. Heather was nervous as hell at the thought of trying to pull this off, but she was definitely going to give it her best shot. "Certainly. Do you have any other preferences besides four bedrooms and beachside?" she asked.

Robbie Ray looked around the house he was currently sitting in and thought about what he wouldn't want to give up. "Oh, three bathrooms. I can't imagine the kids sharing after they had their own all these years." He said, proud of himself for remembering something so important to the harmony of his home life.

Heather chuckled softly. "Ok, will that be all?"

Robbie Ray nodded his head in satisfaction. "Heck, I think I've given you more than enough to do."

Heather looked down at all the notes she had written and suddenly realized that she was missing the single most important piece of information. "Goodness, we've talked all this time and I never bothered to ask your name sir."

"Robbie Ray Stewart ma'am. Pleased to make your acquaintance." he responded, every bit the southern gentleman. "Well, sorta." he added.

Heather sat in her chair gob-smacked. She was talking to Mr. Achy Breaky Heart himself. Celebrities never bought housing from a common real estate agent. They normal used much more high profile agencies. She was star struck for a second, then shook her head as she regained her professional composure. "Well, Robbie Ray it will truly be a pleasure next week-end. Not going to lie, definitely a fan." she added the last part, because sucking-up never hurt anyone's sales quotas. Even so, she was truly a fan. She loved country music.

Robbie Ray smiled. "Sounds like we both got something to look forward to then."

Heather was already bringing up houses for sale on her computer. "Shall I pick you up at your hotel for the tour?" she asked.

Robbie thought about it for a moment. He wanted to do something special for his kids since they had been handling the entire moving situation so well. "Nah, the kids and I will meet you at your agency and we will go from there." he told her, already forming a plan on how they were going to do this.

"Alright now, is 7 A.M. too early to meet? It is going to take most of the day to look at this many houses…" she trailed off, not wanting to offend the man, but wanting him to understand exactly what he was getting himself into.

"7 A.M. will be just fine." he happily told her. "Us country folk like getting up early." he added.

**Los Angeles, California, April 11, 2003**

Jackson squinted as the sun was rising over the city. "Did we really have to get up at 6:00 A.M. on a Saturday dad?" he moaned.

The Stewarts had flown out to California from Tennessee late last night. They took off from Nashville at 6:25 P.M. They arrived in L.A. at 9:00 P.M. after the time change. By the time they got their luggage, drove to their hotel, and checked in, it was after well after 11 P.M.

Robbie reached into his pocket and pulled his sun glasses out and put them on. "You two wanted to help find us a house. So yes. We are supposed to meet Heather at 7 A.M. sharp. We've got a lot of places to look at while we're here and a lot of ground to cover, so we need to start early." he gently reminded his son, then chuckled lightly. "I told you that you should have slept on the plane." he reminded him with a grin.

If his son was bad, his baby girl was worse. Miley looked like a walking zombie. She was standing on her father's left side and leaning against him with her eyes closed. "We can still sleep in the car right?" she half-mumbled.

Robbie turned his head to look at his little girl, hoping she wasn't going to fall over while standing there. "You kids get up early everyday at home to do your chores before school, why is this any different?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Time change?" Jackson said as he let loose a huge yawn and stretched his tired body.

Robbie thought about it. Yeah, they technically woke up at 5 A.M. at home, by the time they had gotten to bed here, it would have been about 22 straight hours. "Aw heck. I'm sorry. Its been so long since I had a problem with jet lag that I almost forgot what is was." he said apologetically.

Miley tapped her father's shoulder with her eyes still closed as she grumbled her next question. "So is she picking us up?" she asked while rolling her neck to get the kinks out.

Robbie reached down and gently turned Miley's face to the left to see their ride that was slowly pulling up to pick up the Stewart clan. "No, I figured that you guys deserved a treat while we were here." he said as he pointed towards the vehicle heading towards them.

Jackson stared at the approaching limousine with wide eyes. "No friggin way!" he yelled.

Miley turned back to her father with eyes that were now wide with awe. "Daddy is that really for us?" she asked.

Robbie Ray was grinning from ear to ear to see the excitement on his kids' faces. "Yeah, I thought that you guys deserved something special for being so great about this and it'll leave all of us plenty of room to lay down and nap in between house visits." he said as the car came to a stop in front of them. The driver rushed out of the car and to the back door, to open it for his clients.

Miley ran towards the car and quickly climbed in. As she sat on the comfortable leather seats, she sighed contentedly. "I could get used to this." she mumbled.

Jackson was grinning like Cheshire cat. "Not bad old man." he said climbing into the vehicle.

Robbie shook his head as he got in the car himself. "See? Sometimes I do have good ideas." he told his kids.

**Malibu, California, April 11, 2003**

Meanwhile at the Truscott household, only 50% of the family was up and moving this morning.

Heather walked into her daughter's room at 6:15 A.M. to find her daughter sprawled out in the middle of her queen size mattress. She had her left leg dangling off the side of the bed and the sheets were only covering about half her body. A pillow was on top of her entire face.

"Lilly." she said, gently shaking her shoulder.

She watched as the lump slowly shifted and she heard a muffled, "Go away."

Heather smiled. "But it's surfing time." she said as she went over and threw open the French doors on her balcony to let in the sound of the waves crashing against the shore.

Lilly quickly lifted the pillow and glanced over at the clock and saw that it was only 6:15 A.M. "No, its not surfing time for another thirty minutes." she said pulling the pillow back over her face.

Heather chuckled at her daughter's grumpiness. She went over and sat on the bed next to her daughter. "I love you too." she replied in a sarcastic tone as she patted her daughter's leg. "Just wanted to let you know that I am going to be gone for most of the day. I have my cell in case you need me for something. Make sure the house is locked if you go out and take your keys." she explained.

Lilly lifted the pillow just high enough so that she could eye her mother. "Its not like I can't get back in without them." she dryly noted.

"Lilly!" her mother lightly chastised her. Heather knew that she was mostly kidding. But at the same time, it was the truth.

Lilly tossed the pillow aside and rolled over to face her mother. "I know, I know." she said with a wry smile on her face.

Heather reached down and ran a finger across her cheek. "That's my girl." she said as she stood up from the bed. "Oliver's welcome, but no one else while I'm gone, okay?" she headed towards the door.

"Sure mom." she said, then suddenly sat straight up in bed. "Hey, is today the day you get to meet the country singer?" she asked, leaning back on her arms.

Heather stopped at the doorframe and slowly turned back around to look at her daughter. "Am I that obvious?" she asked.

Lilly just shrugged in response. "To me, oh heck yeah. You don't dress this nicely for work and you are NEVER this perky this early in the morning." she said as she waved her arm up and down at her mother's outfit. "Please don't make a dork of yourself." she pleaded with her mother as she dragged her butt out of bed.

Heather lightly chuckled. "I'll try not to." As she walked down the hallway she called back to her daughter. "Trust me, I want his autograph on a contract, not a t-shirt."

Lilly shook her head. Only her mother. "I love you. Good luck." she yelled back as she headed for her bathroom to change into her swim suit before heading down to the beach to catch some early waves.

Like clockwork, the limo arrived at National Real Estate at 6:59 A.M.

Heather was waiting in front of the building, as she watched the luxurious limo pull up in front of her. She desperately tried to pick her jaw up off the pavement.

The back door of the limo opened to reveal none other than Robbie Ray Stewart in jeans, cowboy boots, and a plaid short sleeved shirt. "Morning. Miss Heather Truscott I take it?" he said, offering her his hand.

Heather reached out and happily shook the country singer's hand. "Indeed." she said with a smile. "Not quite what I was expecting from Robbie Ray Stewart." she added with a snicker.

Robbie Ray tipped his head to the side and gave her a questioning stare. "Did you think we were coming for ya in a pick-up truck?" he asked with a sarcastic tone.

Heather laughed good-naturedly. "Of course not." she said with a grin. "This just seems a little...flamboyant for your tastes." she said, motioning towards the limousine in front of her.

Robbie Ray chuckled briefly and ran his fingers through his lush hair. "Yeah, it is." he admitted. "It was a treat for the kids." he explained to her. "So how about you give that list of addresses to the driver and we'll get this show on the road." he said, clapping his hands together and rubbing them up and down.

Heather wasn't sure what to make of his offer. She never dreamed that she would be asked to sit in the back of the limo. "Oh, I can just sit up front with the driver…" she said, holding a hand to her chest, praying for her racing heart to slow down.

Robbie Ray shook his head. "Goodness no!! We won't bite. And you can tell us more about the areas." he told her, explaining his reasoning.

Heather smiled as his kind hearted nature. "If you insist."

Robbie bowed slightly at the waist and with a sweeping motion, directed her towards the back of the limo. "I most certainly do."

As the adults both climbed in the back of the limo and took their seats, Robbie Ray pointed at his children. Each one was laying on one of the side limo seats, passed out. "Well, I would introduce you, but they are a little tired this morning." he said, chuckling at his unconscious children.

Heather took note of how beautiful his children were. His son had a sandy blonde mop of hair and average build. He looked a little short, but his face had a boyish quality to it. His daughter had the most gorgeous chestnut hair. That was about the only thing that Heather could see since Miley was covered in a blanket. "Jet lag?" she asked.

Robbie Ray nodded. "Big-time."

"What are their names?" she asked, trying to ease into a comfortable conversation with her client.

"Well, this lug over here snoring is my fine son Jackson. 12 years old." he added, figuring it would most likely be the next question. "And that little bundle over there is my baby girl Miley, she's 10." Robbie finished answering her questions and decided it was only fair to find out a little bit about the lovely lady sitting beside him. "Do you have any children?" he asked.

Heather nodded with a huge grin on her face. "Just one daughter, her name's Lilly. She's 11."

Robbie shook his head. "I guess you had to pawn her off on your husband this morning. Sorry about that."

Heather was torn. She didn't want to lie to this nice man, but she didn't want to go into any depressing details about her recentlly collapsed marriage. Not like she could have told him the real reasons behind it anyway. "I, um, I'm actually in the process of getting a divorce right now." she slowly explained as she stared down at her hands resting on her lap.

Robbie reached over and gently touched her shoulder to get her to look at him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get too personal. My wife recently passed away and that's why we're moving out here. Well, one of the reasons anyway. So I understand what your going through, kinda." While they each had lost their spouse for a different reason, it was still a common bond.

Heather smiled at the wonderful man sitting next to her. She could not in her life ever remember meeting a complete stranger that could show such compassion for others. Heather reached over and squeezed his hand quickly in reassurance. "That's very sweet of you." she said, then took a deep breath and decided that they should get down to business. "So, what questions can I answer for you about the places we'll be seeing today?" she said as she turned in her seat to face him directly, tucking her legs under her and leaning her head against her hand that was braced against the back seat.

Robbie Ray turned in a similar fashion so that he could face Heather. "Well, out of the three places that you're gonna show us houses, which would you choose?" he asked.

Once again, Heather considered lying briefly. She could suggest the highest priced area to help increase her commission, but she felt compelled to be completely honest with this man. "Um, well, to be honest…I actually live in Malibu." she told him.

Robbie Ray considered that for a moment. "And where are we going first?" he asked.

"Manhattan Beach." she said. It only made sense to start with the furthest city from the agency and work your way back.

"And then?" he prompted.

Heather looked at him, trying to figure out where he was going with this. "Santa Monica." she told him.

Robbie Ray let out a brief chuckle. "Save the best for last huh? I like your style." he said pointing at her.

Heather blushed slightly at the compliment. "You always find your way back home." she told him.

Robbie Ray's gaze seemed to cloud over momentarily before he answered her. "I guess you do." As he spoke, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small notepad and pen and quickly jotted something down.

Heather thought the action was rather random and became slightly nervous. "Is there a problem?" she asked.

Robbie clicked the pen closed and returned it and the notepad to his shirt pocket. "No ma'am. No problem at all. But when you hear a good idea for a song, you just gotta write it down before you forget it." he told her.

Heather blushed profusely.

* * *

**Yeah I know....but when I found out how big this chapter had gotten, it had to get divided up into two parts...so the next chapter will be our girls meeting for the first time and should be posted in a couple of hours. - Jess**


	8. Ch 7 Take Me There

**Chapter 7 - Take Me There**

**Manhattan Beach, California, April 11, 2003**

Heather and Robbie Ray talked to one another the whole way to Manhattan beach, while the children slept soundly. When they arrived at the first house, Miley and Jackson seemed less than thrilled with it. Now whether it was that they didn't like the house or because they had been awoken from their naps, he wasn't sure.

Pretty much the exact same thing happened at all the houses they looked at in Manhattan beach. Neither of the children were very happy with them. Robbie Ray was glad in a way, he didn't particular care for the area himself. Strike One.

After about four hours. They had just left their 3rd house visit in Santa Monica when Jackson pulled his dad off to the side as the walked back towards the limo.

"Dad, please tell me you don't like this place?" he said with a pleading voice.

Robbie looked at his son curiously. "Why, what don't you like about it?" he asked.

Jackson was putting on a brave front for Miley, but inside he was still terrified of repeating what had happened in Tennessee with all the kids tormenting him for being different. "Did you see how everyone looked at us? They're kinda snooty." he said.

Miley overhead Jackson's comment and voiced her own displeasure. "Yeah, and none of the houses were very nice either." she added.

Robbie Ray shrugged his shoulders. "Well, we still got two more places to check." he told his kids.

They both sighed and climbed back in the limo.

They finished up an Santa Monica a little after noon. The last two houses were not much different than the first three. Strike Two. This was turning out to be harder than they thought it would be.

As they drove away from the last house in Santa Monica, Miley slid over to her daddy and gave his arm a tug. "Do we have time to stop for lunch?" she asked.

"I'm not sure. Heather?" Robbie wasn't positive what their schedule was like today, so he opted to let Heather answer.

Heather checked her watch and then looked down at their itinerary. "Well, we have a strict meeting time with the first owner in Malibu at 2 P.M. I hate suggesting fast food…" she trailed off as an idea suddenly formed in her head. "and I actually have a better idea. My house isn't far from where we need to be. What kind of food do you like?" she said, looking back and forth between the children.

Miley happily piped up with an answer. "Daddy, can we have Chinese for lunch, that would be relatively quick and easy." she said with a pouty face to make sure she got her way.

Robbie nodded his head. "Not a bad idea darlin. Work for you Junior?" he said, turning to see Jackson's reaction to the idea.

Jackson nodded his head. "Yeah dad. Chinese is cool with me."

Heather clapped her hands together in excitement. It had been a long day and this would be her chance to do something nice for Robbie and his family. "Excellent, let me call and get everything set up with my daughter." she said, pulling out her cell phone and hitting the speed dial.

Lilly had been loading the dish washer when her phone rang. She closed the door and started running across the kitchen as the phone reached its third ring.

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Lilly's phone was on the coffee table in the living room. That meant there was an island and a wall in her way. She quickly phased through both obstacles, grabbed her phone, and flipped it open on the fifth ring. "Hello?" she answered.

Heather smiled hearing her daughter's voice. "Hey sweetheart."

She stood with her hand on her hips. "Seriously, are you checking up on me, cause if so, that is so not cool." she informed her mother with a sarcastic tone.

Heather chuckled as she could picture the look on Lilly's face at that exact moment. "No dear, I need your help."

Lilly's tone brightened considerably. Ever since John had left them, Lilly tried to do anything and everything to help her mother, whether it was laundry, cooking, cleaning, yard work, or anything else that came up. "Oh. Decent. What's up?" she asked.

Heather wondered how much she should really explain, and decided that short and simple was best. "I need you to run down to Honey Moon and grab enough food for five of us."

Lilly got a confused look on her face as she considered what her mother was asking her. The Chinese place was only a two blocks away and she had picked up dinner there several times before. There was only one problem with this little scenario. "Uh, happy to but, call me crazy… dinner for five is going to cost a little bit more than my allowance." she responded, thinking about how much money she had in her room.

Heather smiled as she looked at Robbie Ray. "I realize that angel. You know where I keep it." she said, hoping that Lilly would figure out that she wasn't alone, and thus being deliberately obtuse in her instructions.

Lilly thought for a few seconds before replying back to her mother. She knew about the safe in her mom's room that she always kept an emergency stash of cash, but was she actually suggesting that she break into their safe? "But…"

Heather repeated Lilly's words back to her from early that morning. "It's not like you need a key, remember?"

As soon as Lilly heard that, she knew that her mom was actually encouraging her to use her powers to get money out of the safe. "Ha-ha. Alright, what time will you guys be here?" she asked.

Heather checked her watch then stared back out the window at their surroundings. "You've got 45 minutes. Order, set the table, go pick it up."

Lilly saluted despite her mother not being able to see her. "Yes. Mon Capitan! See you soon. Love ya." she said as she headed back into the kitchen.

"Love you too." Heather answered before she clicked her phone shut.

Robbie Ray stared at Heather with a questioning look in his eye. He remembered her saying earlier that her daughter was only 11. "Everything ok? Not too much to ask of her I hope?"

Heather gave Robbie a reassuring smile and a wink. "Oh, trust me, she's something special."

Lilly grabbed a menu from the side of the refrigerator and dialed the number. She quickly ordered 6 quarts of various items and half a dozen egg rolls. She was told that the total was $48.75 and it would be ready in ten minutes.

Lilly hung up the phone and headed upstairs to her mother's bedroom. There inside her walk-in closet, sitting the floor, was a 4 foot cubic safe.

Lilly knelt down in front of the safe and closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing. In the last year her mother had been working with her on how to use her power to enter something, then make her hand solid enough to grab something while part of her body was still technically 'inside' something else.

They discovered she could do this by accident one day. Lilly had tripped in the hallway while heading to the bathroom. As she was halfway through the bathroom door, she grasped a towel from the towel rack on the back of the door and pulled it back through the door as she righted herself. After that she had practiced day and night until she could do it on command.

Lilly no longer had to rest her hand against the surface before phasing through it. Now it was almost second nature. As she slowly reached in the safe, she slowly felt around until she found the small pouch she knew to be her mom's money and quickly pulled it out. She retrieved fifty dollars from the pouch then reached back in the safe, dropped the pouch, and removed her hand.

Lilly rushed back downstairs and quickly set the table for five before running out the door, heading for the Chinese place.

Twenty minutes later Lilly returned to her house with two take out bags in each hand. As she looked at the door, she realized that she had done specifically what her mother had told her not to do. She forgot her keys. She shook her head in aggravation at her own stupidity. She looked back at the door then down at the bags in her hands. She took a quick glance around the neighborhood and didn't see anyone out and about. Despite the visual scan, she opted for stealth anyway. Lilly pushed one arm through the door while her body blocked anyone's view of what she was doing. She then used her right hand to unlock the door from the inside and opened the door with her left from the outside. As she opened the door, she pulled her phased right arm out from the door. It was safer entering the house like this instead of just walking her entire body straight through the door.

Lilly began unpacking the take out boxes when her cell phone began ringing again. "Yeah mom." she said, since she thought to check the caller id this time.

"Everything set?" Heather asked.

Lilly nodded her head as she continued unpacking the last bag. "Yep, food, table…check."

"And your desire to humiliate me in front of potential clients?" Heather said giggling.

Lilly rolled her eyes as she crumpled the plastic bags into a ball and took them in the kitchen. "Sigh. Check. I know what this means to you. I won't mess it up. I promise." She knew how important this was to her mother. There was no way she was going to let anything happen...if she could help it. Unfortunately, her body didn't always listen to her mind.

"Alright. Pulling in now." she said.

Lilly set her phone on the kitchen island and headed towards the front door to greet their guests.

Heather walked in first leading none other than Mr. Achy Breaky Heart into our living room. "Lilly, I would like to introduce you to the Stewart family. This is Mr. Stewart." She said, presenting Robbie very formally.

Lilly leaned forward and slapped his hand as opposed to shaking it. "Mullet Man!" she shouted.

Heather put a hand over her face and sighed. She certainly couldn't expect her daughter to be anything less than what she was, that much was certain. "Lilly!" she said in exasperated tone.

Robbie Ray shook his head and just chuckled at Lilly's welcome. "Nah, I would prefer Robbie Ray though if you don't mind."

Lilly pulled back embarrassed by how she had just acted and looked down at the floor. "Sorry sir." she mumbled.

Robbie Ray reached forward and tipped her chin up so he could see her pretty eyes. "Now don't be like that 'lil lady. I ain't nobody's sir." he said with gentle reassurance that he was in no way upset with her.

Heather tapped herself on the chest. "That's my fault. She always goes into the yes sir/ma'am mode after being chastised." she explained as she walked over, placed her hands on Lilly's cheeks, and kissed her forehead.

Robbie Ray chuckled. "It's all good. Lilly, these are my kids, Jackson and Miley." he said, pointing to the other two bodies in the room that had been strangely quiet during Robbie Ray's welcome.

Miley just stared at Lilly. She was everything that a California girl was supposed to be. She had amazing blonde hair, a healthy tan, and looked like she had enough energy to do a day's worth of chores without breaking a sweat. "Hey there." Miley greeted, with a shy smile on her face.

Lilly was drawn to the rich southern voice. Then she noticed Miley's eyes. They were the softest chocolate brown. They could probably light up a room and her smile just put you at ease. "Nice to meet you." she said with a wide grin.

"Hi." Jackson said curtly, then turned back to his dad. "Okay, can we eat now?" he pleaded.

Miley reached back and batted Jackson on the shoulder. "Really Jackson?" She couldn't believe her brother was being so rude.

"I'm hungry!" he whined as he glared at his sister and rubbed his sore shoulder.

Lilly giggled at the siblings antics then turned to look at her mother. "I just need to wash my hands." she said as she hurried to the bathroom.

Heather watched Lilly leave and then decided to have a quick word with her daughter. "I need to speak with my daughter real quick. Please, have a seat at the table. We'll be right back." Heather said pointing towards the dining room table.

Jackson quickly took a seat and reached for the container closest to him. Just as he was about to grasp it, it quickly slid down the table out of his reach. Jackson turned to glare at his sister. "Miley!" he whined.

Miley narrowed her eyes right back at her brother. "What's the rule?" she demanded.

Jackson's frowned and leaned towards his sister as he hissed in her ear. "Not to use your power to torment your brother!!!"

Miley rolled her eyes. "I meant not dishing till everyone was seated!" she told him in a normal voice.

Robbie Ray watched the interaction with amusement. He thought that seeing what Miley could do would unnerve him, but over the last few weeks, he had gotten use to seeing her doing small things like this with her power. "Junior, your sister's right. Just cause this ain't Tennessee don't mean the rules change none." he informed his only son.

Jackson sighed. His stomach was growling and he was sitting at a table, piled with food, that smelled amazing. It was torture. "Well, what am I supposed to do to entertain myself?" He said flicking the side of the plastic plate until he flicked it in the air and it fell to the floor.

Miley rolled her eyes at her brother's childish behavior. "Smooth move."

Jackson looked down at the table underneath where his plate had been and noticed what looked like hands prints in the table. "Hey, check out the table." he said, pointing at the hand prints.

Miley stared at the table, confusion etched in her sweet features. "How do you get hand prints in a table?" she asked her father.

Robbie Ray shrugged, not having any idea how something like that could happen. "Maybe it'll be a great ice breaker when they get back?" he told his kids. "Gotta be a story there."

Meanwhile, a different conversation was taking place in the bathroom. "You need to relax." Heather said, staring at her daughter's reflection in the mirror.

"I am." Lilly said as she washed her hands.

Heather set her hands on Lilly's shoulders and squeezed lightly. "I know you better than that. You went into trouble mode and I know you have a tendency to lose control when you're too busy thinking about something you did wrong."

Lilly wiped her hands and turned to face her mother. "It's cool. You'll see." she said as she leaned forward and quickly hugged her mom. "Now come on. I'm hungry."

Heather laughed. "You're always hungry." she said as they walked back to the dining room.

Heather was surprised as they entered the dinning room to see all three Stewarts sitting at the table with empty plates. "You didn't have to wait for us!" Heather informed them.

Robbie shook his head. "Family tradition. No one eats till everyone is seated at the table." he explained to Heather.

"I forgot the drinks for everyone. Be right back." Lilly said, jumping back up and rushing into the kitchen.

Robbie Ray thought he would ask Heather about the table to give them a conversation starter. "So Heather, we were just wondering what the wild and crazy story was behind the hand imprints on the table."

Lilly had just set the soda cans on the table she had retrieved from the kitchen and went to sit back in her seat as she heard Robbie Ray's question. Lilly was so freaked out by what Robbie Ray said that she lost all control of her faculties and phased right through the chair she was supposed to be sitting on. She hit the floor hard. "Oof." she grunted.

Heather's eyes widened both at what Robbie Ray asked and what she KNEW had just happened to her daughter. Thank heavens that Jackson and Miley were seated across the table from Lilly and couldn't see her chair. Heather was actually slightly thankful for Lilly's mishap. Perhaps she could use it to ignore Robbie's question. "Lilly, are you alright?"

Lilly stood up from the floor and shook her head repeatedly. "Yeah, I just missed the seat, boy do I feel foolish right now." she said, laughing at herself as she made a second attempt at sitting down. She was greatly relieved when she felt the cushion under her butt this time.

Jackson could wait no longer. He was a growing boy. "Can we eat now?" he whined once more. "Please!" he added as an after thought.

Heather sniggered at the poor boy. "Yes, grab whatever you'd like and the Hoover sitting next to me will take care of the rest." she said thumbing her finger at her daughter. Heather was all to happy to steer the conversation away from the hand prints question.

Miley opened her eyes wide in shock at that statement. Lilly was a twig. An athletic twig, but still a twig. There couldn't have been an ounce of fat on her. Certainly no outward signs of overeating. "Lilly?" she questioned with disbelief.

Heather nodded her head. "Yeah, my little girl can eat. Believe me." she said taking a large bite of lo mein.

About 20 minutes later, three Stewarts watched dumbfounded as Lilly finished every single box on the table. "How was that possible? No one can eat that much Chinese!" Jackson cried in awe of Lilly's ability to consume massive qualities of food.

Miley added her two sense. "My question is how does she still look like that!?!" she said pointing towards the little blonde.

"Look like what?" Lilly said eyeing her suspiciously. Was Miley making fun of her?

"Like a twig!" Miley shouted and held her fingers up indicating something very small with her fingers.

Lilly blushed as she realized that Miley was actually paying her a compliment.

Heather smiled and patted her daughter on the arm. She was used to this by now. She had watched her daughter eat massive amounts of food and gain little to no weight. For as much as she ate, she should easily have been about 150 lbs, not her little 80 lbs. And none of it was fat. "My girl uses all that energy up. She'll go skateboarding after lunch for hours and was probably already surfing and swimming before lunch. Am I right?" she said, looking at her daughter for confirmation of her statement.

Lilly smiled as she finished the last bit of food on her plate and wiped her mouth. "You know me." she answered.

Miley watched as Lilly quickly sprang up after responding to her mother and begin clearing the table. Miley immediately stood up to help.

After they had taken everything to the kitchen, Miley turned to Lilly and put her hand on her forearm. She couldn't really explain why she was doing this, but something inside her just had this overwhelming urge to learn more about the vivacious blonde. Miley was certainly not prone to spontaneous behavior, but this seemed to be an exception. "Why don't you come with us?" she suddenly asked her.

Lilly's eyes widened. Of all the things that Miley could have said to her right then, that would not have made the top one hundred list. "What? Why would you want ME to come along?"

Miley went back into her shy mode. She couldn't fully explain what had possessed her to ask the blonde girl that question. She just had this feeling inside that she couldn't really explain. She turned away from Lilly and threw the rest of the trash away. "Well, it would be nice to have a friend to talk with. You don't have to if you don't want to." she said, suddenly feeling very stupid for asking.

Lilly turned Miley back around and put her hands on both of her shoulders and looked her in the eye. "You would want to be MY friend? Really?" she said with a look of wonder in her eyes.

Miley was so confused to see Lilly so in awe at her request. "Why is that so shocking?" she asked.

Lilly shrugged as she relinquished her hold on Miley. "I don't have any female friends. None of them like me much." she said as she opened the dishwasher to put the silverware in. "I hang around with all guys. None of the girls really ever wanted anything to do with me." she explained with a note of sadness in her voice. "The only female I really get along with is my mom." she explained.

Miley leaned on the kitchen island as she listened to the blonde talk. "Well, that sounds a lot like me. Maybe that's why I feel so close to you?" As the words popped out of her mouth, she wished she could take them back. From the moment they walked into the Truscott's house, Miley felt like she belonged here, she had no idea why, but she just did. She liked the feeling. And she was certain that Lilly was partially the reason for it.

Lilly knew she wasn't that great understanding peoples' feelings, so she tried to get Miley to clarify what she meant. "What do you mean by feel close?"

Miley shook her head. "I…please don't ask me to explain, cause I know I couldn't if I tried." she said, feeling annoyed at her inability to communicate properly.

Lilly noted the frustrated look in Miley's face, and decided at that moment, that she would do anything to make Miley happy again. "Well, alrighty then. Let me ask my mom." she said as she grabbed Miley's hand and dragged her back out to the dining room.

"Mom? Miley wants to know if I can come with you guys?" as Lilly spoke, Miley stood next to her shaking her head in agreement.

Heather looked back to Robbie Ray to make sure he was okay with the idea. He nodded his head. He looked like the kind of father that couldn't say no to his kids about anything. "It's alright with me." he assured her.

Before Heather could give an answer, Lilly was already pulling Miley towards the door. "Awesome. Let's go!" As she walked out the door she turned to Miley, "I've never been in a limo before." she told her companion as she approached the limousine.

"Before today, neither was I. Something else we have in common." Miley answered before opening the door and climbing in the back of the limo.

After everyone was in the limo, they took the quick drive to their 2:00 P.M. appointment. The house didn't thrill anyone. Nor did the second, or the third, or the fourth. Finally, at about 4:30 P.M. they were back on the same road that the Truscott's lived on.

As they pulled up to the last house, Robbie turned and regarded Heather with confusion upon his face. "Isn't this the street your house is on?" he asked her, certain that he seen this area once already.

Heather blushed and nodded, "Well, technically, yes, we do live 14 houses down the street from here". She explained to him as they climbed out of the limo.

They rang the doorbell and the owner met them, giving them access to the inside of the house. The five of them scattered around the house to check things out.

Lilly was standing out on the balcony of one of the upstairs bedrooms. "This place is amazing." she said to no one, as she stared at the ocean. 'I really hope they like this place.' she thought wistfully. Her thoughts were quickly interrupted by a body bounding into her back.

Miley put her hands around the frame of Lilly's body and leaned on the railing, mirroring Lilly's position. "I have to tell daddy this is the one!" she said over Lilly's shoulder, giddy with excitement.

Lilly was doing a mental happy dance at the words Miley had just spoken. She turned around in Miley's arms and gave her a two thumbs up. "I totally agree with you." Miley released the railing and they heading back into the bedroom. "I have to use the bathroom. I'll be right down." Lilly said, stepping over to the red door heading to the attached bathroom.

After Lilly finished using the toilet, while she was washing her hands, she noticed that the small window in the bathroom that looked out to the balcony. Lilly had always loved watching the ocean waves crash against the shore. It was one of the reasons she had wanted to learn to surf so badly. Wanting to look at the waves one more time and figuring that Miley had already gone back downstairs, Lilly simply walked through the wall and stood on the balcony once again.

After another minute of watching the waves pound mercilessly against the shore. Lilly inhaled the salty air one last time then headed back inside the house. As she opened the balcony doors, she saw Miley looking panicked as she paced the floor.

"Miley?" she asked questioningly.

Miley blinked a few times before answering. Then rushed over to Lilly and ran her hands up and down the smaller girl's arms. "Lilly, didn't you go to the bathroom?" she asked anxiously.

Lilly knew she was just caught, in a manner of speaking, and was once again going to have to lie her way out of it. "Yes." she said slowly.

Miley felt like she was going crazy. She knew she watched Lilly go into the bathroom and never come out. "Is there another door?" she asked as she looked over towards the bathroom and then looked back at Lilly.

Lilly shook her head, getting extremely nervous, but trying her best to be as cool as possible. "No, why?"

Miley put her hands on her hips and stared at Lilly with questioning eyes. "Cause I was waiting for you to come out of the bathroom and when I walked over and knocked, you didn't answer and then when I opened the door you were gone." she explained.

Lilly kept her face stoic as she shrugged her shoulders. "I must have snuck out when your back was turned." Lilly lied to the southerner and nearly ran to the bedroom door to escape Miley's questioning stare.

Miley knew that something strange had just happened. And while it seemed like a silly little thing, something in the back of Miley's mind kept insisting to her that it wasn't. Miley shook her head and followed Lilly out of the bedroom. "Weird. Very weird." she muttered to herself.

The girls made it back to the living room about the same time as Robbie Ray, Heather, and Jackson. "Well Robbie, what do you think?" Heather asked, hoping against hope, that this could be the one. It was the first house that any of the family had seemed to like all day long.

Robbie Ray knew what his answer was, but he wanted to get his kids opinions as well. "Let me talk with my kids a moment." he told her as he headed towards the couch and motioned for his children to follow. Robbie leaned forward and asked in a low voice. "Well?"

Miley had the hugest grin on her face as she grabbed his pant leg. "Daddy this the one." she said, her voice radiating pure excitement.

Jackson nodded his head. "Its perfect dad. Seriously." he added the last part to let his father know it was an actual opinion.

Robbie was almost certain that his kids felt the same way he did, but had to check one last time. "Are you sure this is what you want? There could be something better out there." he reminded them, but inwardly cringed at the thought of having to look at any more houses.

Miley shook her head emphatically. "No way."

Jackson pointed his index fingers at the floor "Always go with your first instinct. This is it." he told his father.

Robbie Ray let out a million dollar smile. He was just tickled pink that all three of them were in total agreement. He clapped his hands together as he stood up from the couch. "Perfect. I just wanted to see if you kids felt the same way I did." he said as he walked back towards Heather. "Heather?" he said, gaining her attention. "We want it." he proudly announced to her.

Heather chuckled lightly thinking back to their earlier conversation in the car. "I guess I did save the best for last?" she said. She eyed him warily as she added, "Well, I guess being neighbors and all, we'll be expected to help you move in now, right?"

Robbie Ray winked at her. "I guess if you got nothing better to do that day." Did he really just flirt with the real estate agent? "Thanks for everything Heather." he told her honestly as he reached out to shake her hand.

"My pleasure. I'll be contacting you with all the final details and have the paperwork sent out for your signature just as soon as I can get them completed." she told him as she released his hand and continued to smile like a fan girl. Mr. Achy Breaky Heart was going to be moving down the block. What were the chances of that happening?

Robbie turned to the kids. "Alright y'all. Back to the limo so we can call it a day." he hollered and watched as three kids quickly rushed out the door. "Well as long as everything will be done so that we can be moved in before the school year starts, that'll be perfect." he added as he and Heather followed the children to the limo.

After the quick drive back to the agency to drop off the Truscott's so Heather could get her car, everyone was saying their goodbyes to one another.

Miley stared at the ground. Strange things had happened today, but the thought of not seeing Lilly for several months saddened her greatly. She had really come to like the small blonde's company in the few hours they had been together. She desperately wished her family didn't have to go back to Tennessee and could just stay here now. "So I guess I'll be seeing you again in the few months, huh?" Miley noted sadly while kicking her tennis shoes at the gravel under her feet.

Lilly didn't want Miley to leave either. She really liked having a female friend to hang out with and do stuff. She nodded her head enthusiastically at the pretty brunette. "Yep, and then you won't be able to get rid of me!" Lilly mentally slapped herself so sounding so needy and tried to backpedal. "Um, I mean, uh…" she started to say.

Miley's smile was contagious and immediately put Lilly at ease. "I can't wait." she proudly told her.

"I can't either." Lilly shyly admitted.

Robbie Ray waved to his daughter that was standing a few feet away from where Jackson, Heather and himself were standing. "Let's get a move on darlin. We'll be back. I promise."

Miley blushed slightly and looked back at Lilly to give her a final goodbye. "So you won't mind being friends with a weirdo like me?" she asked conspiringly.

Lilly rolled her eyes and leaned in to give Miley a hug goodbye. "You are so far from weird, you have no idea." she whispered in her ear.

Miley released the embrace and started walking away from Lilly. "You might be surprised." she said over her shoulder as she walked back to her family then climbed back into the limo to return to their hotel.

* * *

**See this chapter just kept getting BIGGER...well, almost have them in the same state...how long until Lilly gets caught...I wonder...**


	9. Ch 8 Movin On Up

**Chapter 8 - Movin' On Up**

**Malibu, California; August 9, 2003**

Lilly woke up and looked over at her alarm clock. The day she had been waiting for was finally here. The Stewarts were moving in today.

Lilly jumped out of bed and headed to her bathroom to get ready for the day. After getting her shower, she dressed in a pair of khaki shorts and a navy blue tank top. She put her socks and shoes on and bounded down the stairs to greet her mother, who was making breakfast in the kitchen.

"Morning mom!" she said cheerfully.

"Well good morning. What has you so bright and chipper this morning?" she asked, pretty sure that she already knew the answer to her question.

"Miley's moving in today!" she said, grabbing a plate and piling some bacon and eggs on it. She headed towards the dining room table and sat down.

Heather quickly joined her. "Well, I know you're excited, but I want you to be very careful today." she said as she sat her orange juice down on the tabletop.

"What do you mean?" she said with a mouthful of eggs.

Heather didn't want to do anything to damper her daughter's mood, but she needed to remind her to be careful. She knew all too well about how much Lilly liked to be helpful whenever possible. "Well honey, I'm sure that you could be extremely helpful today, but you need to remember that you can't let the Stewarts know what you're capable of doing." she explained delicately.

Lilly rolled her eyes. She knew that her mom was referring to the incident last month, when her mom had gotten new bedroom furniture.

The moving men had been jerks and left the furniture in the living room rather than taking it upstairs to the bedroom. After they left and her mother was on the phone swearing at the delivery company, Lilly had simply walked over to the heavy furniture, wrapped her arms around it, and thought about being able to carry it by herself. A few seconds later, she gave a little tug and the furniture lifted from the floor with minimal effort. Lilly carried the four pieces of furniture that each weighed about a hundred pounds up the stairs, one by one. When her mom walked back into the living room, the phone still on her shoulder, she stared blankly at the empty living room. She hung up the phone simply telling the person on the other line, "Never mind."

That was how Heather and Lilly discovered that when Lilly used her power to increase her density, her body became incredibly strong as well as impenetrable.

Lilly shook the memory from her mind and addressed her mother. "Mom, its not like I'm going to pick up their couch and carry it into the house!" she insisted, taking the last bite of food from her plate.

Heather smiled gently. "I realize that angel, but at the same time, you've gotten to the point that you don't even have to think about it when you want to do something. Your body basically responds automatically." Heather briefly eyed her daughter, who over the summer months seemed to get even more muscular than she was at the end of the school year. "And its been making some changes to your body too, I think."

Heather thought about it for a moment. It all kind of made sense in a way. Lilly's incredible appetite. Her boundless energy. The firm muscular body. All of it seemed to stem from her power. She needed a lot of fuel to power her ability and when she used it, it was almost like a workout, thus the vast improvements to her physical body. The only strange part was the fact that she was only 11 years old.

Lilly eyed her mother skeptically. "What do you mean?"

Heather picked her orange juice up from the table and looked at her daughter. "Lift up the table, only using one hand."

Lilly didn't even think about it and placed one hand under the middle of the table and lifted it three feet in the air. The table easily weighed about 70 pounds. The table didn't wobble at all, nor was there any shake in Lilly's arm that was holding it. Her eyes went wide with the realization that what her mother was saying was true. Slowly, she lowered the table back to the floor. "I didn't realize." she quietly mumbled.

Heather rested a hand over her daughters as she sat back down at the table. "I know you haven't, but I've been noticing you moving some things around the house when you've been cleaning, things that I, a full grown adult, can't move by myself. Do you see my point now?" she explained softly to her daughter.

Lilly nodded. "I promise mom. I'll be careful. I won't do anything unless they ask me to, okay?"

Heather flashed an amazingly white, toothy grin. "That's my little super-girl." she said as she stood up and took the dishes back to the kitchen.

After breakfast, Lilly headed down the street to the Stewart's new home. A large moving van was sitting in the driveway. Lilly saw Miley coming out of the truck and walking down the ramp with a box in her arms. **"**Hey there stranger! Long time no see." she called out, jogging the final few feet up to the truck.

Miley gave Lilly her most welcoming smile. **"**Hey Lils. What're you doing here?" she asked, setting down the box she had been carrying.

Lilly giggled. "I came to help you unpack silly." As she noticed the look of surprise on Miley's face, Lilly immediately gave her an out if she really didn't want her to help. "Um, unless you don't need any help, I could just go down to the beach." Lilly briefly wondered if anything had changed in the last four months since Miley had been in California last. Maybe she had changed her mind about being friends with her or…

Lilly's train of thought was derailed completely when Miley launched herself into Lilly's arms and gave her a hug. "No, it would be awesome! I thought this was going to take forever, but with your help, I bet it'll be done in no time! And this will give us a chance to catch up on everything that happened while we were apart." she said releasing Lilly from the hug and looked in her eyes. "I missed you." she said, then leaned back down to pick up the box she had been carrying. "Can you grab a box with my name on it and carry it up to my room?" she said, tipping her head towards the moving van.

Lilly was on cloud nine after hearing Miley say that she missed her. She nodded her head at Miley's request and reached over and grabbed one of the boxes sitting at the edge of the truck that Miley had indicating were hers. "Piece of cake. I specialize in cheap labor." she told her, easily carrying the box up the stairs and into Miley's room. "Where should I put it?" she asked, looking around the room for some empty space.

Miley turned her head from the box she was busy unpacking on the bed. "Just set it anywhere on the floor. I'm not sure which one you brought up." she said.

Lilly set the box down near Miley's computer desk. "Do you want me to help you unpack these or go down and grab another box?" she asked, doing exactly what she had promised her mom she would…only do what she was told.

A plan was forming in Miley's head. If she could get Lilly out of the room, she could use her power to make this go even faster. "Why don't you get another box?" she said nonchalantly.

As Lilly walked out the door, Miley quickly walked over and shut the door. She ran back over to the bed, waved her hand over the open box and used her power to float everything out of the box and set it gently down on her bed. Miley smiled at her handiwork then quickly went back over to the door and opened it so that Lilly could walk in with the next box.

When Lilly returned with the next box, she added it to the previous one. As she looked over at the bed, she was surprised to see how much Miley had unpacked. "Wow, you got all the stuff out of that box fast!" she observed.

After about five minutes, Miley was almost done placing the contents of the box throughout the room. "Woo-hoo! One box down and about ten more to go!" she said chuckling.

Miley and Lilly finished putting away the last few things that were on the bed, then Miley walked over to get the next box off the floor. She put her hands in the handles and gently tugged, but the box didn't even budge. She tried once more giving it everything she had, with the exact same result. Confused, she turned to Lilly. "Ah, Lilly?" she asked, her eyes narrowed in confusion.

Lilly looked at her wondering what the problem was. She could see the look on the brunette's eyes and wondered if she had goofed again. "Yeah?"

Miley looked her smaller blonde friend up and down. It was obvious that she was quite fit. Her arms had amazing definition and her legs looked firm and tone. But she still shouldn't have been able to carry something this heavy. There was just no way. "How did you carry this up the stairs?!?" Miley finally asked.

Lilly's eyes went wide. "W-what?" she stuttered. She had only done exactly what she was told!

Miley looked back at the box and then back at Lilly. "I can't even move it."

Lilly chuckled, desperately trying to play off the situation. "Miley, I realize you are bit of a girl, but aren't you exaggerating just a bit?" It was clear that Miley wasn't weak by any means, but Lilly had no doubt that even without her power, she would still have been the stronger one.

Miley's eyes were wide with surprise at Lilly's response. She knew what she was talking about. "It probably weighed at least a hundred pounds. Which is more than what I would guess you weigh!" she said pointing at Lilly's relatively small frame.

Lilly took a deep breath and walked over to the box, picking it up easily and carrying it over to the bed. After she set it down, she turned to regard Miley. "Sorry. I exercise a lot. I mean, skateboarding, surfing, soccer, volleyball, running, swimming…I guess I really didn't notice the effect it was having on my body." she curled her arm and nearly shocked herself when a respectable sized bicep bunched in her rather small arm. She relaxed her arm and turned away from Miley to hide her blush. Her mom had been right, her power was changing her body.

Miley was shocked. She had seen some well built girls back in Tennessee. After all, doing chores on a farm will definitely keep you in shape, but Lilly was way beyond any of them. The mere thought of it, did something to Miley. She couldn't put her finger on what it was, but she knew that she liked the strange new feeling. Her decision made, she walked over and stood behind Lilly. She placed her hands on her hips and then leaned down and whispered in the smaller girl's ear. "Well, you better stay on my side then. I think you are the perfect person to protect me from the evils of big bad Seaview Middle School."

Lilly turned quickly and grinned at the brunette. "Oh I think I can promise that your body will maintain its current perfection." she stated proudly.

Miley scoffed at the term Lilly had chosen to describe her. "Perfection? Hardly." she said as she pulled some of the CD's out of the box. "Wanna listen to some music while we unpack?" she asked.

"Sure." she replied happily. Lilly was glad that she had gotten herself out of another awkward situation with Miley. It seemed like it was becoming harder and harder to keep her secret from the sweet southern girl.

Miley put in a mixed CD and happily sang along as she worked. She wasn't really trying, but when _You're Where I Belong_ by Trisha Yearwood came on, Miley just felt like she had to belt out the tune. Considering what had happened earlier, she hoped that Lilly would understand that she was singing to her.

_**I am home now, home now.**_

_**I've been waiting for forever to find you, to find you**_

_**I'm not alone now, alone now**_

_**'Cause you've taken in my heart from the cold**_

_**All I know is every time I look into your eyes**_

_**I know, I know you're where I belong**_

_**I belong with you**_

_**You're where I belong**_

_**And I know it's the truth**_

_**You're part of my heart**_

_**There's nothing I can do**_

_**Oh, you're the one who keeps me warm**_

_**My baby, you're where I belong**_

As Miley finished the first verse, Lilly was in awe of her voice. She stopped what she was doing and just stared at Miley for the duration of the song.

_**You're my first taste, first taste**_

_**Of the sweetest feeling I've ever known, that I've known**_

_**You're my safe place, safe place**_

_**From a world that can be so cruel and cold**_

_**You're my harbor, you're my shelter**_

_**You're that welcome smile**_

_**That lets me know I'm home**_

_**You're where I belong**_

_**I belong with you**_

_**You're where I belong**_

_**And I know it's the truth**_

_**You're part of my heart**_

_**There's nothing I can do**_

_**Oh, you're the one who keeps me warm**_

_**My baby, you're where I belong**_

_**You're the one I come to...yeah**_

_**To keep me from the cold**_

_**You're where I belong**_

_**I belong with you**_

_**You're where I belong**_

_**And I know it's the truth**_

_**You're part of my heart**_

_**There's nothing I can do**_

_**Oh, you're the one who keeps me warm**_

_**My baby, you're where I belong**_

_**You're where I belong**_

_**You're where I belong**_

_**I am home now, home now**_

When she was finished, Lilly walked over and sat down on her bed in front of her. "Miley, wow." she said looking up at the girl with amazement.

Miley was a little surprised by Lilly's reaction. "What?" Secretly, Miley had hoped that Lilly would appreciate her singing, but she hoped even more that Lilly had understood the meaning behind the words.

Lilly finally broke out of her haze. "Miley that was amazing! You can really sing!"

Miley blushed profusely at the compliment. She knew she could sing, but she was currently enjoying the attention Lilly was giving her talent. "I guess." she said and she shrugged her shoulders. She turned away and carried a picture frame over to her desk, desperately trying to hide the huge grin on her face at Lilly's compliment.

Lilly walked over and gently grasped her elbow and turning her back around. "No, you can."

Miley let out a chuckle. "So can you I'm sure."

Lilly didn't like the sound of her voice. It wasn't high pitched and cute like most women's. It was in a slightly lower register. And when she sang, it had a throaty quality to it. "No, I am not allowed to sing any song recorded by a female artist. Ever. Now men on the other…" she said, trailing off her thought.

Miley was confused by what she meant. "I don't get it."

Lilly decided that she could show Miley what she meant easier than she could explain it. She pointed to the CD player. "Put on a guy song."

Miley walked over to the player, grabbed another CD from the pile. She put the disc in and pressed play. _If You're Not The One_ by Daniel Bedingfield started to play.

As Miley turned to look at Lilly, she saw her adamantly shaking her head no. "Um, no way he goes all girly in the middle of the song." she explained.

Miley giggled then grabbed a different CD, loaded it, and once again pressed play. _These Days_ by Rascal Flatts began drifting out of the speakers.

"Nice. Good choice." As Lilly started to sing along with the words, it was Miley's turn to be slightly in awe.

Lilly's voice wasn't as clean as it could have been, but she could match the tone of the vocals perfectly. She also didn't have too much power behind her voice. Lilly sang softly, but with plenty of emotion behind her words.

As the song ended, Miley began slowly clapping. "Wow. There was absolutely nothing wrong with that." she told her friend.

Lilly shrugged. "Kinda, but for a girl its weird."

Miley didn't like Lilly talking down about herself. "It just means you're an individual." she insisted adamantly.

"That's not always a good thing." Lilly mumbled as she finished stacking the books on the bookshelf.

Lilly sighed and walked over to look out the window, lost in her own thoughts. 'I'm not an individual, more like a loner.' she thought. 'And its not fair to stick Miley with that kind of label. I can't do that to her.'

Finally, she took a deep breath and turned back around to look at Miley. "Miles, I feel like I need to tell you something about school." she began. Lilly began pacing the floor as she spoke. "I'm, well, I'm not popular. I mean I am, but not for the right reasons. I'm the most popular girl in gym class, but that's about it." she explained, trying to make Miley understand what she was trying to tell her without actually having to say it.

Miley just looked at her with a confused face. "And?"

Lilly stared at the carpet and refused to look at Miley's face. "Well, I would understand if you wanted to try and be part of the cool crowd…I won't be offended." she gently explained.

Miley just stared at the girl in front of her. How much compassion does it take to willingly accept loneliness in return for someone else's happiness? Miley was saddened that apparently no one else could see how truly amazing Lilly Truscott really was. "Wow. How stupid would I have to be to do something like that?" she said throwing her head back and laughing softly.

Lilly narrowed her eyes and studied Miley carefully. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Miley shook her head. "Never mind." She slowly walked over and gently put her hands on Lilly's shoulders. "And my answer is that you are not getting out of being my body guard."

Lilly looked up at those pretty brown eyes and begged her to see reason. "But Miley, no one knows you yet, you could have a social life. Hanging out with a dork like me is pretty much social suicide!" she said throwing her arms in the air overdramatically.

Miley crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the self-degrading blonde. "It's my decision to make. And I choose you." she stated proudly, her stance making it known that her decision was final.

Lilly just stared at the stubborn southerner. "Wow. No one's ever…" she trailed off, then walked over and wrapped her arms around Miley in a firm hug. "Thanks." she whispered.

Miley was not expecting the hug, but loved every second of it. Finally, Miley pulled back, but did not release the blonde in her arms. "Sorry Truscott, but you are stuck with me." she told her jokingly.

Lilly got a goofy grin on her face as she replied with a sarcastic remark of her own. "I guess I'm just going to have to learn to live with that then."

The girls finally released one another and went back to unpacking boxes. Several hours later, the job was almost done when Lilly's mom called, asking her to come home for dinner. As Lilly was walking out of Miley's room, she stopped at the doorway and turned back to Miley. "Miles?"

"Yeah Lil?" Miley called back, looking up from the last box she had to unpack.

Lilly smiled gently. "I almost forgot to tell you. I really missed you too." she said softly and quickly walked away.

Miley stared at the empty doorway. She waved her hand from left to right, and the door closed. Once the door was closed, she climbed on her bed and snuggled up with her favorite stuffed animal, Berry Bear. 'There is something about that girl.' she wondered. 'But why can't I figure out what it is?'

* * *

**Another chapter that started out as way too long and got cut in half. Next chapter will be all about the first day of school. - Jess**


	10. Ch 9 Don't Laugh at Me

**Chapter 9 - Don't Laugh At Me**

**Malibu, California; August 25, 2003**

The day that the kids were dreading had finally arrived. Summer was officially over. Today was the first day of school.

Miley was fairly confident that she would be fine since she had Lilly. She was slightly concerned about Jackson though. He had been trying the past few days not to seem overly anxious, but she could just tell that inside he was scared outta his mind.

Miley had promised herself that she would do anything in her power to help him get through this.

As Miley sat at the breakfast table, a familiar ring tone went off on her cell phone. Miley beamed as she reached for the phone, knowing who would be on the other line. Before she could say hello she was immediately cut off by the voice on the other end yelling, "Lilly landing in ten!"

Miley flipped the phone closed and rushed over to the door. This would be the third time this week that Lilly had made this kind of entrance. Miley opened the door and Lilly ollied up on their porch from the driveway. She smoothly sailed in the door and into a 360 spin. After four rotations, she came to a halt. She stepped on the back of the board, popping it in the air, and then grabbed the axel with her left hand. "Hey, you ready for school?" she asked with a huge smile on her face.

Miley smiled at the perkiness in her voice. Yep, Lilly Truscott was definitely one of a kind. "Yeah. I'm as ready as I can be." she turned from Lilly and yelled in the direction of the stairs. "Jackson are you coming?" she called to her brother who hadn't made it to the living room yet. As she bent down to pick up her book bag, Jackson came rushing down the stairs.

"I'm here. Can't believe the old man used the bucket of ice water this morning!" he said, walking over to the kitchen island and grabbing an apple from the basket.

Lilly scrunched up her face in confusion and then looked to Miley for an explanation. "Ice water?" she asked.

Miley nodded. "Daddy gives us five minutes after our alarm goes off, then he comes in and tells us to get up. If we don't, he comes back with a bucket of ice water and douses us with it." she explained and then shivered. Miley had experienced the torture on a few occasions herself.

Lilly may have grumbled a little when she had to wake up, but it was never a problem. The most her mother ever had to do was pull the covers off. "Damn. Remind me never to sleep over on a school night."

The walk to school was uneventful. The three pre-teens chatted away animatedly. Lilly was telling them some stories about the various teachers they would encounter and which students to avoid.

Unfortunately, as they entered the building, one of the names she had forgot to mention was standing on the steps. Tommy Wilson.

Tommy Wilson was fourteen years old, but still in middle school because he was held back in elementary school for one reason or another. This made him the oldest boy in the eighth grade class. He was arrogant, conceited, and determined that everyone should bow at his feet. He was on the football team and the basketball team, which only helped add to his already enormous ego. And worst of all, he was determined that every girl, no matter how old, wanted HIM.

Lilly tried to walk past Tommy without him acknowledging him, but no such luck. Miley caught Tommy's attention and he immediately jumped in front of them before they could pass by the stairwell. "Who's this fine new chick? And why is someone as cute as her hanging around with someone like you Truscott?" he asked as he looked Miley up and down like a piece of meat. "Hey baby, where you from?" he asked in his best flirty voice.

Lilly knew nothing good would come from this. "Back off Tommy." she growled at the boy, her fists clenching at her sides.

Tommy looked at little Lilly and laughed. Tommy always got what he wanted. "I just want to talk to her." he said as he grasped her arm and pulled her closer to him.

Miley's eyes narrowed at the unexpected contact. "Let go of me." she demanded. Miley was completely ready to take care of him if he tried anything else, but she didn't feel that pushing him away with her power was necessary just yet. She would try and take care of this without causing a scene if she could.

Just as Tommy opened his mouth to speak, his expression changed from smug confidence to one of utter pain. Miley looked down where his hand had been and realized it was gone. She saw that it was now held in the vice like grip of one Lilly Truscott.

Lilly couldn't explain what had come over her, but when Tommy had put his hands on Miley, she had been ready to hurt him. A lot. Instead of actually starting a fight on the first day, Lilly simply stepped forward and wrapped her hand around the boy's wrist and squeezed; slowly and powerfully. He released Miley instantly. "If you ever touch her again without her permission, I'll do more than just make it sore. Understand?" she growled and shoved his arm back at him.

Tommy glared at the smaller girl and decided that his reputation wasn't worth it. She was strong as hell. And his wrist really did hurt. "Fine. Dyke bitch." he swore as he turned around and headed up the stairs.

Miley stared in amazement as once again she had seen Lilly do something that shouldn't have been possible. Tommy was at least six inches taller than she was and probably out weighed her by at least 50 pounds. Despite that, Lilly had just man handled the boy with very little effort. "Thanks Lilly." she said with a sweet smile.

Lilly blushed slightly as she took Miley's hand in hers. "I said I would protect you. And Tommy is one of the worst. He doesn't understand the concept of personal space. Come on." she explained and gently tugged Miley's arm, leading her towards their lockers.

After Lilly released Miley's hand, Jackson's hand shot up and grasped Miley's shoulder pulling her backwards slightly. "Miley, how did she do that?" he whispered in her ear, still amazed by what Lilly had just done.

Miley shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure. She's really strong, that's all I know." she explained to her brother.

Jackson shook his head emphatically at that statement. "No 11 year old girl is THAT strong Miles." he told her. Jackson was determined that there was more to Lilly Truscott than meets the eye.

Later in the afternoon, right before lunch, Jackson was heading to meet Miley and Lilly at their lockers. As he turned the last corner to get to their lockers, he bumped into a slightly taller chubby kid. "I'm sorry. My fault." he said in apology and tried to walk around the heavyset boy.

Before Jackson could walk past the boy, he threw his hand up, bracing it against the locker to cut Jackson off. "Where you going midget?" he snarled at Jackson.

Lilly heard the voice and immediately looked up to see who was getting tormented by the 6th grade bully. When she saw it was Jackson, she narrowed her eyes and yelled at the larger boy. "Leave him alone Donnie!"

Donnie looked over his shoulder at the girl that had called his name and smirked. "Just want to welcome the new students." he said. "Where you from midget?"

Lilly was angered. 'Why can't people just act normally?' she thought, as she slammed her locker shut. But before she could take a step away from her locker, she felt slim fingers grasp her shoulder firmly and a body pressing against her back. "Wait. Let's see what happens first." she whispered in Lilly's ear.

Lilly agreed to abide by Miley's wishes. For the moment. She wouldn't stand by and let Jackson get hurt if she could prevent it. And the blonde knew damn well that she could.

Miley smiled inwardly that she was able to tame Lilly with a single touch and a few whispered words. She knew that Lilly would protect Jackson no differently than she had done for her earlier. Unfortunately, Miley could only imagine what that would do for his reputation having a younger, smaller, GIRL protect him. Miley could help her brother in a much more subtle way. She watched nervously as the scene played itself out in front of them.

Jackson took a step back and tried his best not to look intimidated. "Just moved here from Tennessee with my sister and dad." he told Donnie.

Donnie chuckled. "You know you can't marry your sister out here, right?" A few of the boys that had been walking with Donnie joined him laughing.

Jackson's eyes narrowed. Making fun of him was one thing, but he wasn't going to let anyone speak like that about his sister. "Funny. Your career as a stand up comedian is going to go swell I can just tell." he said in a sarcastic tone and gave the boy two thumbs up. Once again, Jackson tried to walk past the boy.

Donnie's arm shot out and grabbed Jackson's shirt, just under the collar, pulling him towards him. "I don't like smart asses."

Jackson narrowed his eyes. If he was going to get his ass beat, he wasn't going to be a baby about it. "And I don't care for rude people. Now…Please. Let. Go." he said the last few words slowly as if talking to someone stupid.

Donnie lifted Jackson up by his collar and shook him twice.

"What's your problem?" he said gasping for air as his collar began cutting off his air flow.

"You." he said, staring into Jackson's face.

Miley felt Lilly start to tense up in her arms and knew she had to do something quickly, otherwise Lilly was going to take matters into her own hands. Miley stared at Donnie's ankles and imagined a rope around both of them. She then spread her fingers apart to get him to release Jackson, then with a small jerk of her head, imagined the rope being pulled.

As Donnie dropped his fist back and prepared to smash it into Jackson's face, Donnie suddenly released Jackson and both of his feet slide out from under him. Donnie ending up laying horizontally on his back, staring at the ceiling, gasping for air.

Jackson realized what must have happened as he looked over at his sister. He looked down at the boy laying on the floor and said, "Nice landing. I give it a six." he quipped as he walked over to his sister and her friend.

Jackson put an arm around his sister's waist and gave her a brief one armed hug. "How's your day going?" he asked the girls.

Miley smiled. "So far so good. Has this been the highlight of your day?" she said, pointing over at the large boy who still hadn't gotten up from the floor yet.

Jackson shook his head. "Yeah. Time for lunch?" he asked. He watched as Lilly patted her flat stomach and vigorously nodded her head in response. "Cool. Let's go." he said as they headed off towards the cafeteria.

After they had reached the cafeteria, they selected a table near the windows. Lilly put her stuff down and headed off to buy her lunch. Jackson and Miley brought theirs, so they sat down and started eating.

Jackson caught Miley's eye and smiled softly at her. "Thank you so much. I know you made him fall." he said taking a bite of his sandwich.

Miley briefly glanced over her shoulder to make sure Lilly was still getting her lunch. "Well Lilly wanted to step in and handle it, but I was hoping to save your reputation."

Jackson thought about how it would have looked to have someone smaller than himself and female taking care of the bully. He shuddered in horror to think about how they would have treated him after something like that. "I owe you one." he whispered. Jackson liked his sister having a special power, especially when it benefited him.

Lilly returned from the lunch line with a tray piled high with food. She sat down on Miley's left. Before she could take the first bite of her lunch, she heard the voice she had certainly not missed over the past three months.

"Well, the queen dyke went and picked herself up a posse during the summer." said Amber Addison as she glared at the skater girl cruelly. Next to her was a shorter Asian girl who added, "Yeah, a posse."

Lilly rubbed her hand over her eyes. She was so not in the mood to deal with Amber right now. "Amber, Ashley how I missed hearing your whiney bitching over the summer." she replied dryly.

Amber gave Lilly one last glare then addressed Jackson and Miley directly. "As new students, you two should be warned that queen dyke is only going to destroy what little hope you have of meeting the right people here." she said holding her head high as if indicating that she was one of those 'right' people.

"Yeah, the right people." Ashley added lamely.

Miley turned her head quickly and gave Lilly a wink before turning back and addressing Amber. "She tried so hard, but warned us that we were going to meet you eventually. You are everything that she said you would be." Miley told her with a sickeningly sweet tone.

Amber gave Miley a doubtful look. "And what's that?"

Miley held up her hand and started counting off on her fingers as she spoke. "Rude, arrogant, condescending…."

As she paused for a brief moment, Jackson picked up where she had left off. "mean-spirited, spiteful, cocky snot nosed wanna-bes…"

And lastly it was Lilly's turn to finish the slam "that think they really matter to anyone other than themselves." she said glaring daggers at the two mean girls.

Amber's jaw dropped at the insult. She narrowed her eyes and glared at Lilly once more. "Gee Lilly, you managed to find a couple of hillbilly's every bit as pathetic as yourself. Congratulations." she said, then turned with a huff and stormed off.

"Yeah, congratulations." Ashley added, then chased after Amber like a little puppy dog.

Lilly sighed then shook her head at Miley and Jackson. "You shouldn't have done that." she informed them.

Jackson looked appalled that Lilly didn't want them to stand up for her. "Why not? She was a bitch to you!" he declared.

Lilly played with the food on her plate, she was hungry, but after the confrontation with Amber, she just didn't feel like eating. "Yeah, but she's also the most popular and influential girl in this whole school! She's going to ruin you both." she regrettably informed them both.

Miley reached down and gently squeezed Lilly's hand that was resting on the tabletop. "And anyone that listens to her obviously isn't worth being friends with." she vowed.

Miley's words brought a smile to Lilly's face. How had she been so lucky as to meet such a wonderful family. As Lilly was looking at Miley, she noticed her best friend over her shoulder. "Hey Oliver!" she said cheerfully, her mood returning to its pre-Amber happiness.

Oliver walked around the table and took a seat next to Jackson. "Lils! You've been busy on the first day. Tommy's whining about his wrist and I just saw Amber heading towards the yard ready to spit nails. Good job!" he said holding up his hand for a high five, which Lilly was only too happy to return.

Lilly turned and faced the Stewart siblings. "Miley, Jackson, I would like to introduce you to my best friend since kindergarten, Oliver Oken." she said as she presented Oliver with a hand flourish.

Oliver held his hand up and waved happily at the Stewarts. "Hey you two! So what have you thought about our wacky little world so far?" he asked.

Miley shrugged. Not wanting to sound mean, she simply replied, "It's different."

Oliver examined her face, skeptical of her answer. "That's a nice why of saying you hate it." he said chuckling. "So what delightful nicknames have you been saddled with so far?" he asked knowing very well that his classmates were not the nicest people.

Jackson groaned. "I got inbred earlier."

Miley rolled her eyes and then softly admitted, "I've had hick and hillbilly tossed at me." she said, taking another bite of her lunch.

Oliver gave them both a friendly smile. "Isn't being a teenager just great? And they wonder why we like depressing music and have the highest suicide rate." he said as he took a bite of his sandwich.

Lilly put a hand up to her mouth then stage whispered to Miley and Jackson. "Oliver gets fairy and girlie man."

Oliver leaned over to Jackson and stage whispered, "Never bring your mom's magazines to school to read. You will NEVER live it down."

"Both of those from that one incident?" Jackson said lifting an eyebrow.

Oliver moved his head from side to side. "Well that and maybe the fact that Lilly has a tendency to protect me from one or two individuals larger than myself." he admitted sheepishly. "So, Lilly tells me you guys got here about two weeks ago? Are you unpacked and all that junk?"

"Yeah pretty much." Miley answered.

"Have you seen all the sights yet?" Oliver asked.

"Malibu has sights?" Jackson shot back with a raised brow.

Oliver rolled his eyes. "Okay, so I meant the mall, the beach, and Rico's, but I was trying to be cool about it!" he explained. Everyone chuckled in response.

Miley reported their status on each of the sights. "Beach yes. Mall no. What's a Rico's?" she asked, looking at Lilly for clarification.

Oliver's eyes went wide in amazement. "You haven't taken them to Rico's yet?"

Lilly hesitated before answering. "I wasn't sure if they were ready for evil incarnate."

"Why is it evil?" Jackson asked.

Lily sighed and tried to explain. "Rico is an 8 year old boy genius with a rich father that gave him a food stand on the beach for his birthday. He's well…" she trailed off at the end, trying to find the right words to describe Rico.

"A greedy brat?" Oliver supplied.

Lilly nodded. "That's a good way to describe him."

Oliver looked back at the Stewarts and then pointed at Lilly. "But she goes there all the time!"

Lilly held her hands up in a defensive posture. "He has good food. Don't hate the stomach." Once again, they all joined in a round of laughter.

After they had finally calmed down Lilly posed a question to the table. "How many more days of school left?"

"179." They all answered in unison.

"That's it? Oh joy." she deadpanned.

* * *

**Alright boys and girls...Happy New Year...I am heading out of town...so no more updates for a few days. If you drink, please do so responsibly. Peace. - Jess**


	11. Ch 10 Help You Find Your Way

**Chapter 10 - Help You Find Your Way**

**Malibu, California; June 5, 2004**

It was a beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon in California. The school year had just ended and everyone was looking forward to the next few months of relaxation.

Well, at least the children were.

Robbie Ray was hard at work trying to make a living. This afternoon he had a meeting with one of the label's top producers. Unfortunately for Robbie, he was one of the more unimaginative producers. Robbie Ray was pretty sure this guy wouldn't know a hit song if it walked up and kicked him in the nuts. How he managed to get this high up in the company…he had to be related to someone.

The producer was dressed in a simple black trousers and a white collar shirt, with a red and yellow stripped tie. He was currently sitting on the Stewart's couch, wearing a sour expression on his face. Shaking his head in disappointment, he addressed Robbie Ray. "I'm just not feeling it Robbie."

Robbie moved his favorite guitar so that it was hanging behind him as he ran two hands through his hair. Robbie was an amazingly patient man, but even he had his limits. "Its cause its definitely a female song." he explained. Robbie knew that the producer was hearing Mr. Achy Breaky Heart singing the song instead of just hearing a good song. Some people simply couldn't separate a song from the voice singing it.

Suddenly, the front door opened to reveal Miley, back from the mall with a shopping bag in her right hand. "Hey daddy." she greeted, as she tried to quickly pass through the living room so not to interrupt her father's meeting.

Robbie watched his baby girl heading for the stairwell, when he was suddenly struck with an idea. He called out to his daughter before she could run upstairs, "Hey Bud, could you come give me a hand here for a minute." he asked.

Miley turned and gave her father an unsure look. She couldn't imagine what was so important that he would interrupt his meeting to tell her to do. "Sure." she said, setting her bag next to the stairs and walking over to stand in front of the couch.

Robbie wrapped his right arm around his daughter's shoulders and waved toward the producer sitting on the couch in front of him. "This is Jonathan Starsmore. He's one of the VP's at Hollywood Records. He's looking over some of my material, but I can't seem to get him to feel one of the songs…cause I wrote it for a female singer. Could you give him an idea what it would sound like coming from a woman. Please."

Miley tried her best not to let her surprise show. Granted, sometimes Miley had sang her father's songs back to him after his was done writing so he could work out the music, but this was in front of his boss. An actual record producer. "Sure daddy." she said in her most confident tone. Inside however, she was scared out of her mind.

Robbie Ray handed her a sheet of music and whispered in her ear. "Nothing to be nervous about. Forget he's here and just sing to me." Robbie Ray thought briefly about what else he could say to Miley to relax her enough to sing her best. "Better yet, imagine you're singing to Lilly. You know how much she loves hearing you sing."

Miley smiled at that thought. She nodded her head at her father and took a deep breath. "I'm ready." she said.

As Robbie Ray began playing the first chords of the song, Miley pictured her perky blonde best friend sitting in front of her.

**_Uh oh_**

**_There you go again_**

**_Talkin' cinetmatic_**

**_Yeah you! Your charming_**

**_You got everybody starstruck_**

**_I know, how you always seem to go_**

**_For the obvious, instead of me_**

**_But get a ticket and you'll see_**

**_If we were a movie_**

**_You'd be the right guy_**

**_And I'd be the best friend_**

**_That you'd fall in love with_**

**_In the end_**

**_We'd be laughin'_**

**_Watchin' the sunset_**

**_Fade to black_**

**_Show the names_**

**_Play the happy song (yeah)_**

Jonathan threw his hands in the air. "Stop. Enough." he said, cutting off both Miley and Robbie Ray. He had heard all he needed to hear. "Thank you Miley." he said, smiling kindly at the young girl.

Robbie Ray laughed forward and kissed the side of the brunette's head. "Thanks Bud." he said, gently swatting her backside to indicate that she could go.

"You're welcome daddy." she called over her shoulder as she walked over to the stairs, picked up her shopping bag and heading upstairs to her bedroom.

Jonathan watched as Miley disappeared up the stairwell. After a few seconds, he turned to regard Robbie with a serious expression. "Robbie Ray, your daughter is incredible." he said softly.

Robbie Ray chuckled as he removed the guitar strap from his shoulder and placed the guitar next to the chair he sat down on. "Yep, my pride and joy." he said proudly.

Jonathan leaned forward on the couch. "Robbie, her voice…she could be a major artist." he said, staring intently at the songwriter to gage his reaction to the producer's words.

Robbie Ray knew his baby could sing, but all the negative aspects of her going into the music business at such a young age made him hesitant. It was one of the reasons he had never even suggesting the possibility to Miley. Frankly, the thought of it scared him shitless. "Jon, I know what you're saying, but I have seen how those kids today are acting and I don't want that for Miley." he told the producer honestly.

Jonathan's eyes narrowed at the songwriter. "Who are you thinking about?" he questioned.

Robbie Ray chuckled. "Please, like you don't know who I mean. Britney, Christina, Lindsey, my baby ain't gonna grow up and be like those girls using their bodies to make money." he vowed that he would protect his daughter from the evils of the world. "That ain't singing in those videos, its soft core pornography. It's sad. And all of those girls can really sing too." Maybe if those girls had had someone looking out for them, then they wouldn't have made so many poor choices. Maybe.

Jonathan considered what Robbie had just said. It was clear to the producer that Robbie was worried about a very specific set of circumstances. "Robbie, I understand the father's perspective, I really do. I have a daughter myself. But is it fair to take away an incredible opportunity away from your little girl cause you're scared of what might happen?" he asked.

Robbie Ray sighed as he dropped his head and closed his eyes. He could not believe he was actually considering this. After a few seconds of silence, Robbie finally sighed. "She's only gonna be 12 Jon."

Jonathan was ready to argue the age factor. He stared intently at the former country singer. "LeAnn Rimes won a Grammy for Best New Artist at 14. And you know very well that this process does not happen in a few days. It takes months at least, sometimes even years."

Robbie sighed as he rested his elbow on the armrest to brace his hand against his head. "I realize that." he sighed in defeat.

Jonathan knew he had Robbie right where he needed him. It was time to go for the kill. He wasn't a vice president for nothing. "Do you know how wide open the pre-teen market is right now?" he asked the hillbilly. "Parents of younger children need an outlet for some wholesome music. The 9 year old's mom doesn't want her listening to Britney. She needs an alternative. Miley would be just the thing. " he said pointing towards the stairs where Miley had disappeared moments ago.

Robbie knew that everything Jonathan was saying was true. He really couldn't argue it. But this was a major decision, which would have a lot of consequences. Miley would have to be the one to decide if she wanted to do this, not him. "Tell you what, let me talk to her, and I will call you and let you know how she feels about the whole situation, and then we can go from there, alright?" he said standing up from the chair.

Jonathan took that as his cue to leave. "Sounds good. I look forward to hearing from you." he said, rising from the couch to shake the songwriter's hand. "And Robbie?" he said as he was halfway to the front door.

Robbie Ray looked up from the papers he was trying to organize on the coffee table. "Yeah?"

"You save that song for her." he said, nodding towards the stairs as he quickly slipped out the front door.

Robbie picked up the song in front of him. 'Wonder if he would still be saying that if he knew that the song was about two girls falling in love?' Robbie thought, chuckling to himself. His family was the inspiration behind much of the music he wrote. But there were quite a few songs that he had written that he hadn't wanted to share with the world because they were too personal. Fortunately, this song was ambiguous enough that he didn't mind throwing into the sea of music out there.

Robbie Ray set the music back down on the coffee table and stared at the stairwell. Did he really want to do this? He shook his head, sighed, and headed towards the stairs.

Robbie reached Miley's door and gently knocked. "Miles?" he said, gently trying the handle.

"Hang on." he heard from inside the room. A few seconds later, the door opened, despite Miley standing on the other side of the room in front of her stand up mirror, examining her reflection wearing the new top she had just bought. "Hi daddy. Do you like it?" she asked.

Robbie looked at his baby and wondered if he really wanted to do anything that might change his sweet little country girl. He stood like a statue as he tried to gather his courage to begin a conversation that could change their lives forever.

Meanwhile, Miley was starting to become concerned at her father's silence. It wasn't like him. "What's wrong?" she asked, walking over and taking his hand in hers.

Robbie shook his head and then led Miley over to sit on the bed. He held both of her hands in his as he started to speak. "Well, Mr. Starsmore really liked your singing." he said, his eyes downcast.

Miley was happy that she was able to help convince her father's boss that the song was a hit. "So who are they going to get the song to? Britney? Christina?" she asked excitedly.

Robbie chuckled at her exuberance. "Well, here's the funny thing darlin. He really liked the way YOU sang it." he said, finally raising his head to look in her eyes.

Miley shook her head in confusion. "I don't understand."

Robbie took a deep breath. "Miles, how would feel about becoming a recording artist?" he said, waiting with baited breath for her response.

Miley stared at her father in shock for a few seconds. When she finally regained the ability to speak, she could only manage to voice her disbelief. "Hair loving hillbilly say what?" she said, her jaw still dropped as she finished question.

Robbie got up from the bed and began pacing the floor. "Jonathan wanted me to talk to you. He thinks you would be a wonderful addition to their company." he said, waiting for her to comprehend what he was saying.

Realization finally dawned on Miley and she jumped up from the bed yelling, "YES!!!" then launched herself into her father's arms for a hug.

Robbie hugged his daughter with mixed emotion. It was kind of like someone giving you a brand new car. Sure you're excited to have a car, but now you got to pay for the gas, the insurance, and the repairs. But you don't think about that when that shining new car is sitting in front of you though. "Now before you get too excited, I want to talk about a few other things first. You realize what this is going to mean? You'll probably have to leave school and get a private tutor."

Miley rolled her eyes. It wasn't like she was popular. It wouldn't be horrible NOT getting picked on everyday. "Why would that be so bad? Its just school." she replied, not seeing how that would be a problem.

Robbie eyed her carefully. Okay. "Well, you know how the paparazzi chase the pop stars like Britney around? What happens if they do it to you? Lots of cameras. Lots of pressure. Would you be okay no longer having any privacy?"

Miley looked less than sure about her answer this time. "I, well, I guess." she mumbled.

Robbie narrowed his eyes. He knew he was getting close. He was pretty sure that the next point might change her mind completely. "You realize we are very publicly located. We would probably have to move someplace else." he told her in all seriousness.

Robbie watched as Miley's face dropped in a heartbeat. "Move? But we just got here!!" she said frantically. She couldn't leave Lilly! Not seeing her in school would be one thing, she still lived right down the street. But moving away? No way.

Robbie figured that he could fight dirty and play the Lilly card. He knew that in the past year she had become his baby girl's world. He was waiting to see how their relationship was going to evolve in the future. Would they remain best friends? Or more than that? Only time would tell. "Darlin, I am just trying to point out some things you need to take into consideration before deciding if you want to do this. I am not saying that you can't do this. I know you could. I just want you to understand what you might have to give up if you decide to do this."

Miley's mind was racing. She had dreamed of being a singer since she was little. But the thought of leaving Lilly just made her feel empty inside. She walked back over to the bed and grabbed Berry Bear. "Can you leave me alone for a little bit daddy?" she asked her father as she curled into a ball and hugged the bear to her chest tightly.

Robbie nodded his head in understanding. "You think about what I said, and I'll be back in a while to get your answer." he said as he left her bedroom, closing the door behind him.

Miley's grip on her stuffed animal tightened as her knuckles were going white from the pressure. Why should she have to decide between two things she loved so much? It wasn't fair. Miley took a deep breath as she felt her eyes starting to water.

Miley roughly wiped her eyes. There had to be a way to do both. Miley sat up in bed and held her hand out for her cell phone. The small device that was sitting on the corner of her desk came sailing through the air and into Miley's outstretched arm.

Miley flipped her phone open and hit speed dial 1.

The voice on the other end of the line brought a smile to the brunette's face. "S'up Miles." Lilly answered cheerfully.

Miley returned to her fetal position with the phone resting on her shoulder. "Hey Lils. You got a minute." she asked.

Lilly giggled. "Well, if life works in my favor, I'm pretty sure I still have millions of them!" she paused for a minute before adding. "I suppose I could spare you one more, if I must." she sighed dramatically, then pointed out, "I did only give you five hours worth at the mall earlier!" she finished giggling.

"Ha-ha. You are such a drama queen." Miley said, trying to be playful, but just not feeling up to it at the moment. "Be serious please." she begged the blonde.

Lilly could tell just from the tone of Miley's voice that something was wrong. "Miles, what's wrong?" she asked softly.

Miley still wasn't sure exactly what she wanted to talk to Lilly about, she just knew that Lilly would make everything better. She always did. "I just…I just needed to hear your voice I guess." she shyly admitted.

Lilly's heart soared at the brunette's admission. The moments when Miley needed the blonde always made her feel special. "Okay, can my voice help you in any other way?" she asked, trying to get the southerner to open up.

Miley sighed as she thought about how to ask Lilly about the singing thing, without actually asking her. She was afraid that if they talked about it that Lilly wouldn't be honest with her. She would tell Miley whatever she wanted to hear, because that's how Lilly was, she always put others before herself. And Miley knew that Lilly would tell her to chase her dream no matter what. Lilly would insist that she was not worth giving up something so special for. "Lils, what would you do if you could have your dream job, but then someone pointed out every negative thing that came with the job." she explained carefully, trying not to give too much away with her question. "Would you still want it?"

There was silence for a few seconds as Lilly contemplated Miley's question. "Like, if you told me that by being a doctor I could help lots of people but I'd have to spend the next 15 years of my life in school and end up in debt to my eyeballs?"

Miley grinned madly. No one understood her like Lilly did. "Exactly! Would you do it?" she questioned.

Lilly paused, biting her lip momentarily. "If its something you really want, you find a way. Sometimes, you want the best of both worlds, you know?" she said. "Have I ever told you about how I learned to surf yet?" she asked, not able to remember if she had shared that particular story with Miley yet or not.

Miley shook her head. "No, I just thought you were born doing it." she answered with a smile.

"Very funny." she answered, then shared her story with Miley.

"My mom didn't want me to surf when I was younger cause she couldn't teach me, but I wanted to learn so bad. I went to the beach early every morning and would meet total strangers and talk about surfing with them. Now and then a teenager would think I was cute and take me out and let me ride a wave or two. After several months like this, I was begging to borrow boards cause I had gotten pretty good. Finally, Oliver gets a board. I beg him to borrow it and then drag my mother down to the beach to show her what I could do. She was pretty impressed. She felt so bad that she tried to keep me from something that I had wanted so badly, but I found a way. Needless to say I got my own board a few days later." As she finished her story, she was wondering if she was helping, or just wasting her breath.

Miley smiled at the thought of Lilly nagging strangers to borrow their surf boards. "Awe, the little flower that could." she said chuckling.

Lilly rolled her eyes at Miley's joke. "Ha-ha. Southern humor, how did I ever live with out it?" she deadpanned.

Miley sat up and threw her legs off the side of the bed. "Thanks Lil. You made a lot of sense."

Lilly was proud that she was able to help her best friend in her time of crisis. "So are you gonna go for it?" she asked.

Miley chewed her lower lip briefly before responding. "I think so."

"Great!" she cheered enthusiastically. "What are you going for anyway?" she asked, realizing that all this time, she had no clue what they were actually discussing.

Miley had been working on her story while Lilly was telling her about surfing. "Oh, I mentioned to daddy that it would be great playing in a band someday and now daddy wants me to start learning the guitar."

Lilly nodded her head. She could imagine all the extra hours of practice time it would take to learn to play the guitar. "I bet you'll be great. In fact, I know you will." she told the brunette.

Miley couldn't stop grinning at this point. Lilly just…made everything better. "Thanks Lils. I'll see you in the morning." she told the blonde. They were planning on heading down to the beach early tomorrow since it would be Sunday.

"Sure will. Tell your dad pancakes would be awesome before we go. Good night." she said and hung up the phone.

Miley closed her cell and set it on the night stand. Tossing the stuffed animal on the bed, she left her room in search of her father.

Miley found him in the living room, strumming away on his guitar. "Hey Bud, you been thinking about what we were talking about?" he asked as he set the guitar on the floor to give his daughter his undivided attention.

Miley nodded and sat down on the couch to face her father who was sitting in the armchair. "I did. And the crazy flower gave me some great advice. If I really want something bad enough, then I find a way. And I agree with her. I do want the best of both worlds." she said, repeating Lilly's words to her father.

Robbie narrowed his eyes at his daughter, skeptical that she had made up her mind so quickly. "All that from talking with Lilly?" he prodded.

Miley tipped her head to the side. "Yeah, she's pretty sharp for a blonde." she said with a huge grin.

Robbie chuckled. Leave it to Lilly to be the voice of reason. "So what were you thinking about doing then?" he asked.

Before Miley could answer him, they were interrupted by Jackson entering from the deck. "What's going on family?" he cheerfully asked as he walked into the living room.

Miley looked at Jackson and wondered if he might have any ideas. "Jackson, if you wanted to do something, but didn't want anyone to know it was you, how would you do it?" she asked cryptically.

Jackson plopped his butt on the couch next to his sister and laughed at her question. "Geez, you don't watch television much, do you? Well, let's see, you'd need a disguise. Fake hair, fake name, contacts or glasses, you know become someone else. Oh and if you are planning on committing a crime remember to change your finger prints too." he said, having just watched _Gone in 60 Seconds _the previous night.

Jackson brought his hand up and gently rubbed his chin. "Unless you have superhero syndrome then just put on spandex and it makes everyone's minds go blank and forget everything." he added humorously.

Miley thought about what Jackson was saying. It made perfect sense. All she needed to do was come up with a believable alias. "So, what do you think would be a great code name for my alias, oh brilliant brother of mine?" she asked sarcastically.

"Would you prefer sentimental or random?" he questioned.

Miley considered his question for a second before answering. "Let's go sentimental."

"Well, mom's middle name is Hannah and she was from Montana originally." he explained, thinking that it was an easy answer.

Miley crinkled her brows. "Hannah Montana?" she said out loud, trying the name out. She turned to her father. "Do you think it would work?"

Robbie Ray had a thoughtful look on his face. "Well, I guess if we came up with the right look. It just might work. And what was that you said before? Best of both worlds right?" he asked his daughter.

"Yeah." she responded.

Robbie immediately picked his guitar back up. "I think I feel a hit single coming on."

* * *

**Paging Hannah Montana....Your due on stage next chapter....lol. Let the drama return..... - Jess**


	12. Ch 11 Beautiful Nightmare

**Okay, feel the need to warn you...there is a cliff hanger at the end of this chapter...I don't usually like to write like this, but this one just kinda worked.**

* * *

**Chapter 11 - Beautiful Nightmare**

**Malibu California; March 24, 2006**

Hannah Montana's wardrobe designer Fermein had just walked out of the Stewart's living room when the Stewart's house phone rang.

Miley pressed the speaker phone button. "Hello." she called out.

"Hey its me. Landing in twenty seconds." Lilly yelled in a rushed voice before hanging up quickly.

"Great." Miley shouted, pressed the button again then quickly turned to her brother and father and shouted at them. "Lilly alert in 18 seconds!" she said, ripping the blonde wig off her head and throwing it at her father.

Jackson rushed over with a zip-up hoodie that Miley could put on over her concert outfit. "She's your best friend Miley. Sooner or later your gonna have to tell her that you're Hannah Montana." he explained then went over to close the ottoman filed filled concert outfits.

"I pick later." she said defiantly as she fumbled with the zipper while heading towards the kitchen.

"9 seconds. Get the juice." Robbie yelled from the piano.

"Got it." Miley answered as she closed the refrigerator and finished straightening her top.

"Good. 3." Robbie counted as he sat on the step with his guitar.

"2." Jackson yelled as he ran to open the front doors.

"1." Miley finished as she watched her best friend ollie into their living room and then do a 360 to a stop in front of the her.

Lilly reached out and grabbed both of Miley's shoulders and gently started to shake them. "Guess who just landed two tickets to the hottest concert in town!"

All three Stewarts held their breath as Lilly continued her excited explanation.

"Miley, you and I, I being your best friend…are going to see…the one…the only…Hannah Montana!!! WHOO!!!" she finished, pumping her fist in the air at her accomplishment.

Miley's face was a ghostly white as she stared blankly off into space. She could not believe the words had just come out of Lilly's mouth. Miley felt like her world was slowly crumbling down around her.

After a few seconds, Lilly realized that Miley was not nearly as excited as she thought she would be. "You're not screaming. Why aren't you screaming?" she demanded.

Jackson, who was now sitting next to Robbie on the step spoke up. "Oh believe me, she's screaming on the inside." she said with a smug grin. Robbie grabbed him and put him in a headlock to shut him up.

Miley blinked twice and finally found her ability to speak. "Come on, let's go upstairs." she said, grabbing her best friend's hand and dragging her up the stairs to her room.

Once inside, Miley shut the door and shyly stared at the floor. "I just…don't like Hannah Montana." she mumbled lamely.

Lilly looked at her best friend like she had just lost her mind. "Since when? I know you know all of her songs and I've seen the album here in this very room." Lilly narrowed her eyes and examined the brunette closely. "Why are you lying to me?" she demanded.

Miley looked up from the floor and saw the pain the Lilly's blue eyes at the words she had just uttered. "Alright, the truth is…that…that…I can't tell you the truth." she stuttered. How much worse could this situation get? Miley had decided that she wouldn't tell anyone about being Hannah Montana. The only people that knew were her brother and father. The same two people that knew her 'other' secret.

Lilly crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Miley accusingly. "What does that mean?"

Miley's mind with racing on how to get through this conversation without damaging their friendship. "Lilly, be totally honest with me…do I know every single detail about your life?" she asked, trying if possible to turn the tables on Lilly.

Lilly's eyes went wide at Miley's question. There were quite a few things that Miley didn't know about her. "No." muttered softly as she turned her head away from the brunette.

Miley took a calming breath and stepped towards Lilly. She took both of the smaller girl's hands into her own as she pleaded with the blonde. "Well, not telling a person about something and lying to them is two different things." she explained. "Look how long it took you to tell me how you learned to surf?"

Miley then released Lilly's right hand and brought it up to her chin to lift her head, so that she could look in her beautiful blue eyes. "I don't ever want to lie to you." she whispered.

Lilly stared mesmerized by the kindness in the eyes staring at her. "I don't want to lie to you either." she answered, even though she had already done so on many occasions. Lilly always felt horrible when she had to come up with some stupid lie to hide her abilities from the brunette.

Miley nodded in agreement. "Okay, then all you need to know is that I love you dearly, but I can't go to the Hannah Montana concert with you." she said as she wrapped the smaller girl in her arms and hugged her tightly. "I'm sorry for disappointing you." she whispered.

Lilly sighed deeply as she returned the hug. Lilly could never stay mad at Miley for anything. It just wasn't possible. Miley meant everything to her. Lilly released the hug, but lowered her hands to the taller girl's hips, not wanting to release the contact entirely. "Alright. I guess I can get Oliver to go with me. He thinks she's hot." she said, desperately trying to keep the disappointment she was feeling inside from reaching her voice.

Miley winked at her. "See? Everything will work out just fine." she said, as she leaned back in for another hug.

About an hour later, after Lilly had left to go talk to Oliver, Miley joined her father on the back deck. She sat down next to him on the steps and leaned her head against his shoulder.

Robbie Ray frowned at his daughter's actions. It was always easy to tell when Miley was upset about something. "What's up Bud?" he inquired.

Miley sighed, then began explaining her dilemma. "Daddy, Lilly and I talked earlier about this whole Hannah thing." she began.

Robbie's eyes widened in surprise. "Did you tell her?" he asked in a surprised voice, thinking that they had fought over the secret.

Miley shook her head. "No.......but there's a lot about me she doesn't know." Miley pointed out.

"What're you saying darling?" he gently prodded.

Miley lifted her head and looked her father in the eye. "Daddy…I want to tell her." A pause. "About my power."

Robbie was surprised that Miley wanted to share the secret of her ability when she didn't even want to tell Lilly that she was Hannah Montana. It was clear that not telling Lilly the truth about everything was starting to eat Miley from the inside. "Darlin, why don't you start by telling her your Hannah Montana first, if that goes well, then you can tell her the other thing." he suggested.

Miley shook her head in surprise. "Wait, you'd be okay with me telling her?" she asked, not quite believing what she had just heard her father say.

Robbie smiled softly at his only daughter. "Darlin, it's your life. Not mine. You have to make your own decisions. I may try and give you my opinions from time to time, but as far as your power goes, that has nothing to do with me. If you make the wrong decision, you're only gonna hurt yourself." he told her, not happy with what he was saying, but knowing that it was the truth.

Miley considered what her father had said. "I…I'll tell her after the concert tonight. That I'm Hannah Montana."

Robbie smiled and gave his daughter a one armed hug. "Good choice bud."

Miley returned the hug with vigor. Her father was the best. "Thanks daddy." she said as she stood up.

Robbie Ray winked at her. "Anytime darlin."

As Miley walked back into the house, she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and quickly typed out a text message to Lilly. _Super important that I talk to you after the concert. Call you tonight as soon as I'm free. _She finished typing, then hit send. 'I hope I'm doing the right thing.' she thought as she headed back upstairs to get ready for her concert.

Tonight's concert was in Los Angeles. It was the last stop on her "Meet Hannah Montana" Tour, which was a 12 city tour across the western states. They had started the tour Easter week-end. And had done a different city every week-end since. The plan was that at the conclusion of this tour, Miley would be going back into the studio and working on her second album while school was out.

The show went off without a hitch. Miley had amazed the crowd with her enthusiasm and her incredible talent. The stage was pretty basic and Miley only did a few choreographed moves in a few of her songs. For the most part, she sang. She sang every song from her first album and covered two classics. After an hour and a half, the show was over and a very tired pop star was heading to her dressing room.

Miley grabbed a towel and sat down on the couch. It was amazing how hot it got on stage under all those bright lights. Miley was opening a bottle of water when her father opened her dressing room door and slipped inside.

Robbie walked over to her wearing his fedora and fake mustache. "Darlin, we have a huge problem." he softly said.

Miley smiled good naturedly as she took a swig from her water bottle. She was supposed to do a meet and greet with some back stage pass winners after the concert. "What's wrong? Did the backstage pass winners pass out again?" she asked with a giggle. It had happened a few weeks ago in Sacramento.

Robbie Ray chuckled nervously as he had to give his daughter the bad news. "No…but you might." he told her. "Its Lilly and Oliver." he said cringing, waiting for the verbal freak out that was sure to follow his revelation.

Miley didn't disappoint his expectations in the least. The singer spit out the water in her mouth, then jumped up from the couch and began running around the dressing room frantically. "Oh my god! Oh my god! OH. MY. GOD. Daddy, what am I gonna do?" she asked, pleaded for his help.

Robbie shrugged his shoulders. He did have a few ideas in his head, but he didn't think his daughter was going to go for anything of them. "That's up to you...Hannah Montana could tell them no visitors tonight." he offered as his first suggestion.

Miley stared at him liked he had just grown a second head. "Heck no! That would make me seem like some kind of stuck up diva." she said, sounding appalled that he would even suggest such a thing.

Robbie rolled his eyes. "You could be honest." he offered as an alternative.

Miley scoffed at that idea as well. "I don't really want to tell Oliver!" she said. Yeah they were friends, but he wasn't exactly like a brother to her.

Robbie threw his hands up in surrender. "Well, it's your decision…You tell me what you want to do." Robbie waited as he watched his daughter stare blankly at the wall. "Shall I send them in?" he asked, trying to get her to decide something.

Miley nodded slowly. "Yeah. Let's get this over with." she told her father.

"Be back in a minute." he said, and slipped back out the dressing room.

Miley went over and checked her wig in the dressing table mirror, making sure that absolutely no brown hairs were sticking out. She grabbed a pair of dark sunglasses and put them on. Granted, she was wearing blue contacts, but Miley was certain that if Lilly looked in her eyes, the jig would be up.

Miley was startled when there was a loud knock at her door. She took a deep breath and called out in a shaky voice. "Come in."

Lilly and Oliver walked in the door. Oliver stood as still as a statue and simply stared at Miley.

Lilly could at least manage some conversation. "Wow. Hannah Montana!" she said as she slowly walked over to the pop star.

"Hi, nice to meet you both." Hannah said in the thickest southern accent she could manage.

Lilly noticed that Oliver had yet to same anything. She rolled her eyes in annoyance. Boys could be such morons. "My name's Lilly Truscott and this freak of nature standing next to me is Oliver Oken." she told the pop star, pointing towards the dark haired boy.

After another ten seconds of Oliver's blank stare, Lilly could stand it no longer and slapped his shoulder hard. "Stop staring!" she hissed.

Oliver rubbed his shoulder, but still looked at the pop star with glazed eyes. "But she's so pretty!" he insisted.

Lilly slapped her forehead. "Seriously Oliver, you need to stop the stalker stare." she said shaking her head, embarrassed at her best friend's actions. "I apologize the actions of the doughnut." she told the pop star.

Miley couldn't help it. She giggled. When she did, a strange look crossed Lilly's face. Miley mentally cursed herself. 'You can not tell me she figured it out from my giggle of all things. There is no way.' she thought.

Miley regained her composure and tried to move along their visit. "Well, did you want me to sign anything for you?" she asked, trying to be a nice pop star.

Lilly handed Hannah the two programs she was carrying. Miley walked over to the coffee table, sat down briefly, and with a flourish signed each program. She could feel Lilly's eyes examining her.

As Hannah stood and handed her fans their programs back, Miley quickly realized her mistake. She had pulled the dark sunglasses down slightly while she wrote the autographs and when she stood up, she looked directly in Lilly's eyes. She chuckled nervously and pushed the sunglasses back on her face. "Anything you want to ask me?" she asked, putting a lot of emphasis on her accent once more.

Before Lilly could open her mouth, Oliver shouted at her. "Can we get married?"

Hannah's eyes went wide.

Lilly's eyes on the other hand narrowed in anger. "Alright, that's it. Out!" she grabbed his shirt collar and dragged the smaller boy to the door and pushed him out of it and into the hallway. As she closed the door, she took a deep breath before slowly turning around and crossing her arms over her chest. "Now, let's try this one more time…Miley."

Miley tried to keep the shock she felt from appearing on her face. Her name had always sounded musical when Lilly said it. She never wanted to hear her say it again with such disgust. Miley made one last effort at trying to avoid the argument she knew was coming. "Excuse me?" she said softly.

Lilly stalked towards her best friend. "Miley, I'm not blind. You can pull it off from television or even a concert stage, but not when I am standing right here!" she said, gesturing to the lack of distance between them.

Miley slowly removed the glasses from her face and stared at the floor as she spoke. "It wasn't supposed to happen like this…" she began.

Lilly didn't want to hear this from Hannah Montana. "Please take off the wig." she insisted. Miley nodded and did as was asked. "What did you hope that I was so star struck that I wouldn't notice?" Lilly questioned, her anger rising with every passing moment.

Miley finally looked up to see the anger and disappointment in Lilly's beautiful blue eyes. "No, I had no idea that you had won backstage passes!! I was going to tell you tonight! I swear! Didn't you get my text message before the concert?" she said, trying to point out that she truly did have every intention of telling her tonight.

Lilly nodded her head. She did get a text message saying she wanted to talk to her after the concert. "I did. But still, why haven't you told me anything about this for…how long have you been doing this?" Lilly demanded. Miley certainly hadn't become Hannah Montana overnight.

Miley once again dropped her head to the ground in shame. "About a year and a half." Miley quietly mumbled.

"YEAR AND A HALF?" Lilly roared as she repeatedly clenched and unclenched her fists. She was suddenly glad she was standing the middle of a relatively empty room. If she had been close to a piece of furniture or a wall, she had no doubt that her anger would have manifested itself in the form of property damage.

Miley had seen Lilly angry at other people before, but this is the first time that she had ever had Lilly's anger directed towards her. It was kind of frightening. Miley approached the blonde slowly and carefully, closing the distance between them. Once Lilly was just out of arm's reach, Miley began talking again. "I was scared okay? You obviously don't trust me completely, so how was I supposed to trust you like that?" she reasoned.

Lilly could not believe that Miley was trying to make this about her. Disbelief was written all over the blonde's face.

Miley took another step forward until she was close enough to reach out and touch the blonde. "There are so many things that you haven't told me about you." she softly told the shorter girl, trying to make her understand why she had made the decision not to tell her.

Lilly was like a deer in headlights at this point. Her righteous anger was quickly being replaced by shame. "Like what?" she softly questioned, but pretty much knew exactly what Miley was going to say.

Miley eyed the blonde carefully. "Do you really want me to list them off?" she asked hesitantly.

Lilly just nodded.

Miley tried to keep her voice calm and even as she listed off everything she thought Lilly was keeping secret from her. "Handprints on your dining room table. Disappearing out of rooms without using the door. Carrying things that weigh twice as much as you do. Manhandling boys almost twice your size. And that was just from first few times we were together!"

Now Lilly was panicked. "It's not the same thing!" she insisted, softly shaking her head.

Miley didn't want to hurt her best friend, but if they were going to have their biggest fight ever, she was going to throw EVERYTHING on the table. "And you NEVER mention your dad." she added quietly. She had told the blonde all the details of her mother's passing, but Lilly had never once spoke of her father's departure.

Lilly could feel the tears forming in her eyes. Everything that Miley was talking about was because of her ability. Her father left when he found out. How was she supposed to explain to Miley that her father left because he was afraid of his own daughter? This secret was going to cost her everything. Even Miley. "What do you want from me?" she whispered.

Miley took the last step forward and took a hold of Lilly's hands and stared into her eyes intently. "Be honest with me." she said in a hushed voice.

Lilly looked back to the floor, gently squeezed Miley's hands once and released them. "I'm sorry. I can't do this." she said, running for the door.

As Lilly reached for the door, Miley shot her hand up to keep the door from opening.

"Lilly don't go." Miley called out.

As Miley said her name, the tears started falling faster from the blonde's eyes. Lilly reached down to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. She shook the handle in frustration. "Why won't the door open?" she said out loud.

Miley gritted her teeth, "Because I won't let it." Miley didn't want to lose Lilly. And the brunette was terrified that if she let the blonde open the door, that was exactly what was going to happen.

Lilly felt trapped. She was determined that she was getting out of this room one way or another. Lilly thought about being strong enough to open the door, but STILL the door wouldn't open. Lilly concentrated a little harder, but all she managed to do was crush the door knob. She quickly released it and turned back around. Now she was going to have to lie to Miley…again.

Lilly watched as Miley's out stretched arm dropped to her side. She looked like she had just run a marathon. She was panting, sweating profusely, and her complexion was snow white. She heard Miley swear softly. "Damn." And then watched as the singer's legs buckled and she dropped to the floor in a heap.

Lilly immediately went rushing to her best friend's side. "Miles?" she said, kneeling down and cradling the weak girl in her arms. Lilly easily picked the singer up and carried her over to the couch. Lilly gently laid her best friend down and began stroking her face lovingly. "Miley, please wake up." she begged softly.

Miley could barely open her eyes, but had enough energy to mutter, "Did you have to pull so hard?" she asked, trying to ignore the pounding in her head.

Lilly was freaking out for so many reasons at this point, she really wasn't grasping what was happening. "What're you talking about?" she asked, pulling Miley's cell phone out of her pocket. Lilly flipped it open so that she could call Mr. Stewart.

Miley finally managed to open her eyes and looked at Lilly with wonder. "God, you're strong." After she finished speaking, her eyes rolled back in her head as she lost consciousness.

Lilly gently shook the brunette. "Miley!? Miley?!!?"

* * *

**Please don't be mad...you'll love the next chapter....I promise. - Jess**


	13. Ch 12 What Hurts the Most

**Chapter 12 - What Hurts the Most**

**Los Angeles, California; March 25, 2006**

Miley awoke to the glare of bright lights in a room with white walls. As she tried to sit up in the bed she was resting on, the singer was reminded of what made her pass out in the first place. Miley slowly laid back down and brought both hands up to her face to massage her aching temples.

When he heard Miley groan, Robbie jumped out of the seat he had been sitting in next to the window, where he had waited patiently for his little girl to wake up. "Easy there darlin. How're you feeling Bud?" he asked softly, easily reading the discomfort on her face.

Miley groaned as she turned over on her side so that she could look directly at her father and not turn her head. "Like I've been run over by a tractor trailer?" she said, putting her arms under the pillow and pulling it towards her face and gently easing her head into the pillow's softness to try and confort her aching head.

Robbie Ray eyed his daughter carefully as he tried to determine if it was too early for this question or not. He finally decided that he might as well get it over with. "What happened?" he asked softly.

Miley closed her eyes against the pain of the memory, both the physical and the emotional. She softly sighed. "You mean Lilly didn't tell you?" A moment of panic crossed Miley's features as she abruptly sat back up in bed. "Wait, did she leave me?" The horror of saying those words out loud actually made Miley shiver. "Lilly's gone?" she said on the verge of hyperventilating at the thought of the blonde abandoning her.

Robbie Ray sat down on the bed and reached forward and grasped Miley's shoulder's gently but firmly, opting to avoid the IV in her right hand. "Miles, stop. She didn't leave you. She's down in the general waiting area. She's been here the whole time waiting for you to wake up. Relax." Robbie could feel the tension leaving his daughter's shoulders until she slowly laid back down on the bed as he continued speaking. "Now," He went back to her first question. "Lilly said that we would have to ask you. All she knew was that you collapsed and had blood running out your ears and nose." he said, explaining to his daughter how he had found her on the couch with a spastic blonde hovering over her. Robbie ducked his head a bit so that he could catch her eyes, which were still blue, since the contacts had yet to come out. "Can you tell me what happened?" he asked, concern lacing his sweet baritone voice.

Miley considered what her father had said. 'What had happened between them?' she wondered. Miley had no idea. She would never be sure until she talked to her best friend. "I…need to talk to Lilly first." she told her father. "It's not that I don't want to tell you, but I need her to help me figure it out exactly." she pause and tipped her head to the side. "Do ya get it?" she asked, hoping against hope that she was making sense to her father.

Robbie considered the situation carefully. Something had hurt his baby girl and he wanted to know what it was. "Miles." he began, but was cut off before he could get the thought from his head to his mouth.

Miley grabbed his hand. "Daddy, I swear after I talk to her, then I promise I will tell you absolutely everything. Just understand that right now, its something between us. And, I don't even really understand it yet." she tried to explained to her father, pleading with her eyes for him to understand.

Robbie Ray sighed in defeat. He narrowed his eyes at his only daughter and asked her one poignant question before he would make a final decision. "Did she purposely hurt you?" he asked with dead seriousness.

At first, Miley almost laughed. The thought that her dear sweet blonde friend would ever hurt her was simply ludicrous. "No. It's Lilly." she vowed with a smile of her face. "She would never hurt me." Miley explained in all truthfulness.

Robbie leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "That's all I wanted to hear. She's down the hall. I'll go get her." he said, patting her leg as he walked out of the room.

Miley considered what her father had asked her. How could he even think such a thing? Lilly had always been the one to protect Miley from all the big bad evils of the world. Granted, Miley was almost certain that Lilly had technically hurt her, but it was only because she didn't know she was doing it. Miley was going to be careful to make sure that the blonde understood that very fact.

Miley's thoughts were interrupted by a light knocking on the door, then the sight of a blonde head leaning in the open door crack. "Hey." she said as she slowly entered the hospital room and approached the right side of the bed. The blonde was immediately put at ease by the smile on the southerner's lips.

"Hi." Miley answered, already feeling better by the blonde's mere presence.

Lilly carefully sat on the edge of the bed with her hands locked tightly together on her lap. "Are you feeling better?" Despite Miley's smile, Lilly was still incredibly nervous about the direction this conversation was going to take.

Miley shrugged non-nonchalantly. She didn't want to pretend she was fine, but she also didn't want the blonde to feel horribly guilty for how much pain she was still currently feeling. "I guess so." she simply said.

Lilly stared at the floor for several seconds, not being able to come up with the right words to say. Finally, she opened her mouth to speak, but Miley beat her to it.

"How long are we going to dance around what we really need to talk about?" The brunette asked in a frustrated tone. The past few days seemed marred with half-truths and many instances of avoidance from both sides. Miley had a strangle hold on the sheets with her right hand. Her left hand was only inches away from the blonde, but in that moment, the distance seemed like miles.

Lilly looked up slowly from the floor to the brunette's frustrated face. "What do you mean?" she asked carefully, still unsure after all these hours if she could have the conversation that they almost started in the pop star's dressing room.

Miley was finding it difficult to determine if the blonde was truly ignorant of what had happened earlier, or if she was only pretending not to know. "You know what happened, right?" Miley asked deliberately. There would be no more misunderstandings. Everything was going to get spelled out in black and white. Miley would make sure that there would be no more grey to get lost in.

Lilly's eyes went wide at the accusing look she saw in the brunette's eyes. She could only shrug her shoulder's in response. "Ah no. The door was stuck and then when I turned around you collapsed." Well, she knew that she couldn't open the door using her vast strength and THAT was saying something. But she couldn't exactly mention that to Miley.

Miley was almost certain that Lilly honestly didn't get it, for whatever reason. "I was keeping the door closed…" Miley stated firmly. As if it was the most normal thing she could have possibly said.

Lilly rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe that after everything that had happened in the past few hours that Miley was in the mood for jokes. "Ha-ha. You're so funny." Lilly commented dryly. "You were across the room Miles." She pointed out.

Miley gritted her teeth as she finished her thought that Lilly had unknowingly cut off. "With my mind." she said as she stared down the blonde, willing her to wrap her mind around what the brunette had just stated.

Lilly giggled nervously. "Yeah right. It would have taken a lot more than that to stop me." she said without thinking and quickly slapped both of her hands over her mouth. Lilly couldn't believe that she had actually just said what she was thinking. Stupid.

Lilly's mind was racing with the implications of what Miley had just said. 'In order for her to hold the door closed while I was using my power, she would have to be…special like me.' The thought hit Lilly as surely as if she'd been slapped. 'And if that were true, then that means that I caused this. Miley's here because of me.' she concluded. 'I hurt her. I did this.'

Miley watched the progression on Lilly's face as it went from shocked, to surprised, and finally to horrified.

Lilly jumped from the bed as if she had been burned. "Oh my god. I hurt you." she said as she began backing away from the bed towards the door.

Miley could see the panic forming on Lilly's face. This is so NOT how she wanted this conversation to go. "Lils, you didn't mean to." she said, leaning forward.

Lilly shook her head. Rational thinking wasn't happening anymore. Lilly was stuck on one single thought. She hurt Miley. The one person other than her mother who was always there. The one person who didn't care what other people thought. The one person who loved her unconditionally. And Lilly hurt her. Maybe almost killed her. "But I did it. I hurt you. Miley I'm so sorry…I…" as the tears began running down Lilly's face, she turned and bolted out of Miley's hospital room, running as fast as she could, without using her power.

Miley could only yell helplessly from the bed. "Lilly!! Lilly!!" Miley wanted to chase after the blonde, but as she swung her legs off the side of the bed, the answering dizzying spell made her reconsider. Miley laid back on the bed and closed her eyes as tears started running down her own cheeks. "Oh Lilly." she sighed softly.

A few minutes later, the door to her hospital room slowly opened.

Miley immediately sat up, hoping Lilly had returned. "Lilly?" she asked hopefully.

Jackson shook his head. "Sorry Miles, I thought she was still here with you." he explained to her. "I got sick of waiting. I wanted to make sure you were alright with my own eyes." he said sheepishly as he entered his sister's hospital room.

Miley smiled sadly at her big brother. Jackson may have teased his sister endlessly, but he loved her with his whole heart. There was nothing he wouldn't do for her. Taking that last thought into consideration, Miley tapped a spot on the bed next to her and beckoned her brother to join her. "Jackson, I need a favor." she said shyly.

After taking a seat on the bed, Jackson reached out and ran a thumb over her cheek. "Anything for you sis." he said with the utmost sincerity. "You should know that by now."

Miley grabbed Jackson's hand and gently kissed the back of it. "I need you to go find Lilly for me." she told him firmly. "She thinks my accident was her fault…but it wasn't." she explained.

Jackson didn't really know any of the story, so he just sat patiently waited for his sister to explain things to him. "What happened?" he inquired.

Miley sighed as she was forced to recount the story yet again. "I was holding the door closed with my mind…."

Jackson was trying to piece together the puzzle as she spoke. "And she…" he said, encouraging her to continue.

Miley closed her eyes. "Pulled the door in her freakishly strong way." she said in an annoyed grunt. Miley's eyes widened in disbelief that her brother was now rolling on her bed in near hysterics. "What is so damn funny?!" she demanded.

It took Jackson several seconds to get himself under control. As the final chuckles of laugher left him, he grinned at his sister. "And you thought she wasn't special." he said, trying to reign in his mirth at this situation. It wasn't funny that Miley had gotten hurt, but that all this time both girls had been special and wouldn't admit it to each other. "I told you to tell her. Remember, right after the incident with Bobby Collins?"

Miley thought back to the first week of school when they first moved here. Bobby Collins either hadn't heard what happened to Tommy Wilson, or he didn't believe it.

It was right after lunch. Lilly had gone to the bathroom, and I was getting the books out of my locker for my afternoon classes. Bobby walks up behind me, cups my ass, squeezes it none too gently, and whispers in my ear that he's the welcoming committee.

Unfortunately for Bobby, Lilly was approaching her locker at that very moment and witnessed the whole thing.

She grabbed his jersey and flung him to the floor away me. I turned around just in time to see Bobby try to do the same thing to Lilly, except that he flung her into the lockers. Hard. The sound was as loud as a 4th of July firework exploding. I thought for sure Lilly would be dazed at least, if not knocked out. She simply gritted her teeth, walked forward and interlocked both of their hands.

Needless to say, Bobby was on his knees begging for mercy in seconds.

Ever since that day, Jackson had been telling her that she should tell Lilly her secret. 'If only I had listened.' she thought sadly. Shaking the thought from her head, she addressed her brother once more. "The point is, she is out there somewhere blaming herself for me being hurt. Please go find her for me." she begged her brother. She held up the IV in her arms indicating her inability to leave. "Tell her it's not her fault." she said softly. "Tell her I need her…" Miley paused before whispering. "Tell her…I love her." she said, turning her head away from her brother and staring out the window.

Jackson eyed his sister carefully after her last statement. He had wondered over the past year if there wasn't more between the two girls than friendship. Maybe it was because they had the power thing in common, but he could have sworn that it was something else. Sometimes it was a lingering look. Sometimes it was a passing comment. But it was always present it some way. He wasn't sure what 'it' was exactly, but he knew for certain that it was something special between the two of them. "How about I tell her the first two…" he said. "and save the last one for you?" he added shyly.

Miley turned back to look at her brother. She had a huge grin on her face at her brother's words. "Deal." she vowed.

A little while later, Jackson found Lilly sitting on the beach in front of Rico's staring at the ocean. "Hey Lilly." he said as he took a seat next to her on the sand.

Lilly quickly tried to wipe the tears from her face. "Jackson. What're you doing here?" she asked, trying not to look directly at him.

Jackson didn't need to see her face to know that she had been crying. He could hear it in her voice. "I was looking for you." he told her.

Lilly sniffled softly. "Why?" she inquired.

Jackson shrugged thinking it was a silly question. "Miley asked me to." he told her matter-of-factly. He turned on the sand so that he was facing her. "It wasn't your fault. You didn't hurt Miley Lil." he said, willing her to look at him.

Jackson was surprised when she whipped her head around to regard him angrily.

"Yes I did! You don't get it! I barely even tried and I hurt her!" she yelled and got up and walked a few steps away from where Jackson still sat.

Jackson considered for a moment the best way to approach this situation. He stood up and stopped a few paces behind her. "So, are you admitting you can do amazing things too?" he asked.

Lilly whirled around, not believing that Jackson was asking her this NOW. "What?!?" she demanded.

Jackson decided that he should clear a few things up with Lilly before he was responsible for yet another misunderstanding between his sister and the fiery blonde. "Miley told me that she told you her secret. Not the Hannah Montana thing. The telekinesis." Lilly's eye softened. Apparently she hadn't considered who else might know about that other secret. Jackson put his hands in his pockets and rocked back and forth on his heels. "Lilly, I've watched you for years. I know damn well that you are capable of doing things no girl your size should be able to." he told her, wanting to be completely honest with the blonde.

Lilly eyed him warily. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Jackson pointed to the sand. "Sit. Please." Lilly nodded and sat back down on the sand. She pulled her knees to her chest, placed her crossed arms on her knees, then laid her head down. She waited silently for Jackson to continue.

Jackson took a seat next to her and stared out at the ocean as he thought back to the first time Lilly had amazed him. "The first time I noticed? Tommy Wilson. First day of school. You could have broken that boy's arm with a simple squeeze." A pause. Jackson turned his head to look at Lilly. "Couldn't you?" he asked, waiting for her to confirm his suspicions.

Lilly only nodded in response.

Jackson smiled. He was making progress. "But you didn't. Cause you are sweet and caring, and wouldn't really hurt anyone on purpose….unless they so deserved it." he corrected himself with a slight chuckle.

Lilly sat in silence. Then she turned her head back to the ocean. "Jackson your sister is everything to me and I hurt her." she sad sorrowfully.

Jackson hoped he wasn't over stepping his bounds, but he was pretty sure that Lilly wouldn't intentionally hurt him any more than she would hurt Miley. Jackson wrapped his left arm around her shoulder and pulled her towards him until she laid her head on his shoulder. "Inadvertently. Come on Lils. You were pulling on a door, how could you think for a moment that had anything to do with my sister." he said, and gave her a minute to digest what he had just said, then he continued. "She needs you. And call me crazy, but I think you need her too." he told the smaller blonde.

Lilly closed her eyes and sighed. Jackson was right. About a lot of things surprisingly enough. "I think you might be right." she confessed to the older boy.

Jackson grinned like a kid in a candy store. "Of course I'm right." he said knowingly.

Lilly picked her head up the pushed him away from her. "Smartass." she said with a smile.

Jackson finally stopped laughing, then regarded her seriously once more. "Now. Can I ask you something?"

Lilly was briefly surprised. She thought Jackson pretty much had everything figured out. "Sure." she said.

"Last year, when they found Chris Collins stuffed in a locker, which was coincidentally the same day he tripped me in the hallway and not long after his brother pawed my sister...was that your handiwork?" he asked with a smirk.

Lilly blushed, but knew without even saying anything that Jackson had already gotten the answer to his question. "Maybe." she muttered.

Jackson slapped his hands together. "I knew it was you." he said, pointing at the blonde.

Lilly was curious. She knew that no one had seen her do it. "Why was that?" she questioned.

Jackson chuckled. "Because he wouldn't talk about it to anyone. And believe me, a lot of people were dying to know who stuffed a lineman into a locker. And the way he bent up the inside…damn."

Lilly shook her head. "Don't worry, I used my hand to push the side wall out so he could fit. I didn't use his body to do that."

It took a second to wrap his mind around what Lilly had just told him. "Wow." was the only response he could mumble as he stared at the small blonde in amazement. He shook himself out of his haze. "So when she calls you tomorrow, you are going to come over and talk about this whole mess. Right?" he questioned.

Lilly sighed and smiled at her best friend's brother. "Yes Jackson." She thought about it for a minute before adding, "You're like the big brother I never had and didn't know I wanted." she told him honestly.

Now it was Jackson's turn to blush a little bit. "Yeah well. You're like the second little sister I didn't need but can't live without." he said, grabbing her head in a friendly headlock and giving her a noogie. "Thanks, for everything." he told her when he released her.

Lilly's grin was infectious. "Right back at ya." She looked around and noted the mostly empty beach. Since Jackson knew her secret and he had been quite wonderful today, she wanted to give him a treat. "So, you want a piggy back ride back to your house?" she asked in a teasing way. "I'll run the whole way." she promised him.

Jackson's eyes went wide with surprise. "You can do that?" he asked.

She only nodded in response.

Jackson wasted no time in running the few steps up to her and hopping on her back. "Ride'em cowboy!!" he shouted as Lilly laughed and headed for the house, Jackson screaming in delight the entire way.

Sure enough, Lilly's phone went off at 11 A.M. the following morning. It was a text message from Miley asking her to come over. Lilly ran down the stairs and found her mother hard at work at the dining room table.

Lilly toyed with the idea of not saying anything to her mother yet, but with all the misunderstandings lately, she didn't want to lie to anyone anymore. Ever. "Mom, I'm heading over to Miley's and there's something I think you should know." she said, taking a seat next to her mother. She waited until her mother set her pen down and had her undivided attention. "They kinda know about me." she admitted quietly.

Heather was shocked for all of two seconds. If anyone was going to discover her secret, it was either going to be Oliver or Miley. She was actually glad it was the brunette. She trusted her more. "Everything?" she asked, narrow her eyes.

"Not quite." Heather lifted her brows at that comment. Lilly shrugged. "Well, let's just say that hiding my strength over the years has not been my number one priority." she said and chuckled at her mother's agreeing nod. "And last night, Miley and I sorta exposed each other." she confessed.

Heather was surprised that it had taken so long for her to hear about something that was no doubt quite an ordeal for her daughter. "How did you do that?" she asked.

Lilly sighed and explained what had happened the night before. "Well, we argued, I wanted to leave, the door wouldn't move, I used my power and then Miley collapsed with blood running out of her nose and ears." she said.

Heather covered her mouth in surprise at Miley's situation. "Oh my god. Is she alright?" she asked, clearly concerned for daughter's best friend's health.

Lilly nodded sadly. "Doctors said a few blood vessels burst simultaneously. Rare, but it happens." Of course Miley's family knew what had happened, but this gave them something that they could tell outsiders. "The thing is, she said that she was keeping the door closed with her mind." she told her mother, explaining what had really happened.

Heather eyed her daughter carefully before asking her next question. "How much force did you use on the door?" she asked softly.

Lilly dropped her eyes to her lap and Heather grasped in shock. It had hardly taken her any time at all to determine what had happened. "Oh Lilly." she sighed.

Lilly tried to defend herself. "I didn't know!!! I could have…I think….It would have been my fault!" she told her mother as tears began to well in her eyes.

Heather leaned forward and gathered her only daughter into her arms. "Shhh. Hush now. Don't dwell on what could've been. It didn't happen." she reassured her daughter as she gently stroked her silky blonde hair. "So are you asking permission to tell her everything?" she asked, tipping her head to look into the watery eyes of her little girl.

Lilly pleaded with her mother. "I know you always said wait till I'm older, but...it's Miley." she said, as if that explained everything in those two simple words.

Heather considered what her daughter was asking of her. This could possibly put their lives in danger. "What does Miley mean to you?" she softly asked.

"Everything." the blonde answered without a seconds hesitation.

Heather smiled knowingly. She expected an answer along those lines. "Then that's what you tell her." she replied, smiling lovingly.

Lilly was always astounded by how wonderful and understanding her mother could be. "Even stuff that involves you?" she asked, wanting to make sure she didn't do anything to upset her mother.

Heather moved her head from side to side as she considered what her daughter was asking. "Try to stick to you and see how the conversation goes. If you two can get through that, then maybe we can bring her over and tell her about the rest of it. Fair enough?" she said as a compromise.

Lilly nodded happily. "Always. You're the best mom." she said burying her head into her shoulder and hugging the older blonde tightly.

Heather kissed the side of her daughter's head. "I love you angel. Good luck." she said as she released her daughter. And watched as her baby headed out the front door.

Five minutes later, Lilly walked into the Stewart's house. Jackson was sitting on the couch playing a video game. "Hey Jackson." She greeted him. "Where's Miley?" she asked.

"Upstairs in her room. Go on up." he said over his shoulder, then felt the need to give the blonde a little more reassurance. He paused his game and turned to actually look at the blonde skater. "Relax, it'll be fine. You'll see." he reminded her with a smile then went back to his game.

Lilly made her way up the stairs slowly. She wasn't sure how she should act. The last time she had seen Miley, thing were awkward to say the least. Miley's bedroom door was closed, so Lilly thought it would be best to knock.

The door opened and revealed the brunette's smiling face. "Lilly!" she shouted and launched herself into the blonde's arms.

Lilly was shocked by Miley's warm welcome. "You're still willing to touch me after what I did?" she asked, impossible to hide the shock from her face or her voice.

Miley pulled back slightly in the smaller girl's arms. "And what did you do?"

"I hurt you." The blonde answered as she stared at the floor.

"No, I hurt myself." the brunette argued back.

Lilly couldn't believe that Miley was trying to blame herself. "How do you figure?" she demanded.

Miley released the blonde and started to pace back in forth in front of her. "If I had just let you walk out the door, none of this would have happened. If I had told you I was Hannah Montana, none of this would have happened. If I would have had the guts to truly confront you over the years about how strong you were, this wouldn't have happened." she explained. She stopped directly in front of the blonde as she finished and looked her in the eyes. "So as you can see, this is clearly my fault!"

Lilly was so confused. "But?" she tried.

Miley held up one hand and covered her mouth before she could say anything else. "Stop. You are my best friend. You would never do anything to intentionally hurt me, right?"

Lilly nodded solemnly. "Right." she mumbled through the hand still covering her lips.

Miley giggled and removed her hand from the blonde's lips. "Fine. Now that that's out of the way." Miley pulled the surfer over to the bed and plopped down on the comforter. "God girl! How freakin strong are you? I thought my brain was gonna explode from the pressure." she said only half jokingly.

Lilly was so overjoyed to see the happiness back on Miley's face that she didn't really register the second part of Miley's comment. "Honestly? I might have pulled the door 25% of what I am capable of...maybe. I'm not really sure. I know I stopped when the door knob started to indent from my hand." she explained.

"Sweet niblets!" Miley exclaimed. Now that was strong.

Lilly just shrugged. Her ability didn't impress her anymore. "So, Jackson says you have telekinesis?" she said, not wanting to talk about herself.

Miley's eyes narrowed at the blonde. "Don't you believe him?" she asked accusingly.

Lilly crossed her arms across her chest defiantly. "I would like to see a practical demonstration." she said staring into Miley's eyes. Slowly, Miley's eyes were getting lower and lower. Actually, her whole body was getting lower. Finally, it dawned on Lilly that Miley wasn't lower, she was now inches away from the ceiling. Miley had simply lifted her off the bed, straight up. "Holy shit! That's awesome!" she declared excitedly.

"Lilly! Language!" Miley chastised as she slowly lowered Lilly back down to the bed.

Lilly shrugged apologetically. "Well, I've never been suspended in mid air before, it was kinda cool." she explained, still trying to bite down the excitement she was feeling. "Is that all you can do?" she asked.

Miley was slightly shocked by the question. "What that's not enough for you?" she replied sarcastically.

Lilly chuckled, then explained herself to Miley. "Well, my power is two-fold, I wondered if maybe yours was too."

Now Miley's eyes widened in surprise. "Wait, you can do something else?" she asked.

Lilly nodded. "Well, yeah. See my power revolves around density. I can either become very dense which makes my body strong and impenetrable or I can make my density really weak so that I can pass through solid objects."

Now it was Miley's turn to be surprised. "No freaking way!" she shouted. "This I gotta see."

Lilly walked over to Miley's bathroom door and stopped in front of it. She turned back and winked at Miley, then walked straight through the door. After about five seconds, she walked back.

Miley's eyes were wide with amazement. "That's how you got out of the bathroom on the first day." she whispered to herself. "You walked through the wall out to the balcony." she finished her thought and stared at Lilly for confirmation.

Lilly smiled, happy to finally be able to share everything with Miley. "You got it." she said and then started thinking. She had never done this before, but she knew it worked with inatimate objects, so why not people? "Do you want to try it?" she asked the brunette.

Miley's eyes were wide with the prospect of what Lilly was suggesting. "You can make me do that?" she asked.

Lilly shook her hands. "Well kinda. I can't do it from a distance or anything, but if I'm holding you…" she said bashfully as she ducked her head, not sure if that would be something that Miley would be cool with.

Much to Lilly's surprise, the brunette jumped up and rushed over to her. "Will it feel strange?" she asked.

Lilly visably gulped as she thought about how her next comment could be misconstrued. "Maybe tingle a bit." Lilly stepped behind Miley's back and squeezed tightly up against her. She wrapped her left arm around her waist and took Miley's right hand in her right hand and held them up in front of them. "Are you ready?" she whispered in the brunette's ear and grinned as she felt Miley shiver against her.

Miley was too nervous to answer, for many reasons. She felt Lilly slowly start to guide them towards the door. She now understood why Lilly was holding her hand out. As her hand disappeared into the door, Miley felt the tingle Lilly was talking about. It was kind of like getting lightly shocked. When her whole body was inside the door, wow, what a feeling. After they were safely standing inside the bathroom, Miley turned around and hugged Lilly. "Oh my god! That was amazing!!!" she told the blonde.

The two girls made their way back into the bedroom so they could continue talking.

Lilly piped up with the next question. "How did you get this way?"

"Daddy said its from some experiment that mom took part in a long time ago." the brunette answered.

"No way!" Lilly yelled, as her eyes went wide and she continued to stare at Miley for several seconds before she muttered, "One in a million. She was right."

Miley wasn't sure what Lilly was talking about. "One in a million?" she asked questioningly.

"Come on." the blonde said, jumping up from the bed and pulling the brunette to her feet. "We have GOT to go talk to my mom. She's never going to believe this." the surfer told the singer as she dragged her down the stairs and out of the house.

* * *

**Sorry, been a little under the weather these past few days. You know its bad when you don't even want to write. Next chapter is going to be a little different, but I wanted to skip a large period of time quickly, but still touch on a few highlights...so get ready for Lilly's diary. - Jess**


	14. Ch 13 Total Eclipse of the Heart

**If anyone doesn't recognize the song..it is Emily Osment's You Are the Only One from her EP All the Right Wrongs. And I tried to stay relatively close to the episodes original air dates...**

* * *

**Chapter 13 - Total Eclipse of the Heart**

**Various Excerpts from Lillian Truscott's Diary**

**3/25/06**

Holy crap. That was amazing. Miley and me came back to my house and talked with mom about EVERYTHING. Oh my god. I think it's safe to say that we will never have the problem of keeping secrets from each other anymore.

OMG, and I thought for sure that Miley was going to piss herself when mom lit her hands on fire. I haven't laughed that hard in ages. And the look Miley gave me. Priceless I tell you.

I can't believe everything is working out. So all of our family knows our secrets. All of them. Even the one about that singer. LOL. I think it's gonna be weird knowing a famous rock star, but its Miley. I guess I am going to be one of the few exceptions in this world. I will never see Hannah Montana. I'll always see Miley in a wig. There are a few things I have been wondering…a few of those HM songs…they sound like…maybe I'm imagining things. Okay, let me write down the titles and examine this…

**1. Best of Both Worlds - **I swear I remember a phone call and talking to Miley about this…maybe I'm crazy.

**2. Who Said - **All about the double life thing…kind of secretly telling off the kids at school that don't get it…

**3. This is the Life - **Double life song…geez, her old man overdid it a little with this theme.

**4. Pumpin' Up the Party - **Party song…what more do you need to say?

**5. The Other Side of Me - **Wow...the double life thing again? Is she trying to keep this thing a secret or not?

**6. Just Like You - **Damn, I will beat her dad if he dares to write one more song about having a double life.

**7. Always Find Your Way Back Home - **Mom insists that she gave Mr. S the idea for this song the day they came to look at houses here.

**8. I Got Nerve - **The first verse…it reminds me so much of how I was…I was asking for her. And I thank whoever it was that listened and gave her to me.

**9. I Miss You - **That was sooooo for her mom.

**10. If We Were a Movie - **I might be crazy…but just the way the words are set up…I swear she's talking about me. But I couldn't fall in love with her? That's crazy. I think.

**3/29/06**

OMG! I can not believe I let her talk me into that! So Miley wanted me to be a part of the Hannah World…but in order to do that and keep Miley's secret…of course, Lilly Truscott couldn't be Hannah's best friend…NOOOOOO.

Next thing I know, we're at a wig shop in Beverly Hills. She's asking me all these questions and I am dumb enough to shout my mouth off and say…get this, I prefer the rainbow. She ends up buying me 6 wigs in multiple colors including….red, purple, white, light blue, hot pink, and orange!

Then if the whole wig thing wasn't crazy enough, THEN she tells me we have to go shopping for CLOTHES!! I said WHAT? So she drags me into a few places and after looking at tons of stuff…once again I get all annoyed and start throwing together the weirdest things I can imagine putting together. Zigzags and polka dots, stripes and plaids…Miley was getting hacked, but then she suddenly thought I was absolutely brilliant! So apparently, I am going to be her EXTREMELY insane BFF. We didn't pick out a name yet…but considering how well shopping went…can't wait for that revelation.

LOLA LUFTNAGLE?!? I could KILL her. What the heck kind of name is THAT?! I guess she thought I needed to have a weird enough name to go with the strange clothes I was wearing. And despite all that, it was SOOOO amazing to be back stage. I think I might have done a few uncool things, but I am what I am. Miley kept assuring me that I was being myself and that she thought it was adorable. And in the end, all that matters is what Miley thinks. That's the only thing that has mattered for the last three years.

**3/31/06**

Okay, I so can't believe I am going to admit this. I am jealous of my best friend. Not her. Him. How utterly horrible is it that I don't want to share Hannah with him? I understand why Miley wants to do it…he won't leave her alone otherwise…and I can't imagine what it would be like if he were falling all over me like that.

But still…I don't want him in the Hannah World…that's like _our_ thing. Well, I guess we will still technically have _our_ special world, but that's not something we can share with the entire planet like the Hannah World.

The weird thing is…that I can't figure out why I am so irritated. He's been my best friend since kindergarten. Of all people to be jealous of…why him? It doesn't make sense…

**5/17/06**

Okay so we had to go on this totally wicked, but freakishly horrible camping trip for school. Of course Amber and Ashley were being their normal impossible selves. OMG but when Miley suggested that we scare the crap out of them it was soooo awesome. Miley yanks me out of the tent and then put this log in my hand which I easily use my power to snap into pieces while she screamed bloody murder. OMG. They ran to the port a potty for safety. And well, can I help it if after we took our victory picture that I forgot that I had made myself stronger and accidentally pushed the port a potty over when I put the slightest of pressure on it….LOL, I think not.

Had to update this entry…Miley had an interview tonight…and we find out that we all got poison oak from the camping trip. Can you say sucky?? Although, when we got home from the show, we took turns rubbing cream on each other's backs…that was kinda fun…in a totally not friend like way…what am I saying?

**8/1/06**

So, Miley's second album is coming out in a few days…but being Hannah Montana's best friend of course...I got an advanced copy…and guess what? I know for a fact that several of these songs are for me. Okay, here's the breakdown….

**1. We Got the Party - **Typical dance track…everybody's gotta have some thing to jam to at a party

**2. Nobody's Perfect - **This was a little ditty that Miley wanted to use that pays homage to all the crazy ass shit we do in our normal lives. And the tune rocks big time.

**3. Make Some Noise - **This was an anthem for her fans. Sort of stand up and do what you want.

**4. Rock Star - **He just couldn't let go of the double life thing…but I have to say that this is the best one he's ever written. Also brilliantly slams all the kids at school. I love it.

**5. Old Blue Jeans - **Vaguely the double life thing, but more about knowing the real Miley. And considering who the real Miley really is…well, I think this one is about me cause _no one else comes close _to knowing the real Miley like I do.

**6. Life's What You Make It - **Okay another great rocking party song all the way.

**7. One in a Million - **Okay…HOLD EVERYTHING. This is where life gets…strange. First of all…SHE…my best friend…MILEY wrote this song. And she told me it was because of me. Most people will hear it and think it's a love song…which…maybe it is? I don't know. That very first day in the kitchen…she said she couldn't explain it…

**8. Bigger Than Us -**This one is about her philosophy in life…

**9. You and Me Together - **Wow…this one is about us…and never letting anything come between friends…no matter what…wonder if she wrote this after the hospital? Oh yeah, she wrote this one too. She has been helping her dad write some songs for months now.

**10. True Friend - **And the whole WORLD knows this song was written for me if you read her liner notes. It clearly states that the song is dedicated to Lola. Well she couldn't dedicate it to Lilly now could she? Ironically, she actually didn't write this one…she didn't even help…this was all Robbie Ray. Weird.

So how amazing is it that almost half of _the_ hottest rising pop star on the planet's songs are written to or about little old me?

Pretty freakin amazing.

**8/12/06**

So tomorrow is the Malibu Open and I made the half pipe finals. But I can't believe I ran out of disposable contacts. Un-freakin-believable. And of course that cow Heather made the finals too. I haven't used my power to give me any unfair advantages in sports, but this time I think I might. I am so sick of her attitude. So I'm having to wear my poindexter specs, but Miley was so sweet about it, telling me that I still looked adorable even in my dorky glasses. She always manages to make me feel all warm and tingly inside.

Oh, Miley did a photo shoot for this zit crème…and you should see what they did to her face! OMG. I couldn't believe when I saw the billboard. I so totally had to do the competition now. Dorky glasses and all.

Okay, Miley took a little lesson in vanity when I called her out on her family painting over the zit, but she actually stood up in front of all those reporters and told them that some things were more important than looks…like friendship. She did that ….for me. Woah.

Oh, kicked Heather's ass in the finals…not going to lie…used my power once on a hand plant…but for the most part…I kicked her ass the right way. Revenge is sweet.

**9/8/06**

So we got a new celebrity in school today. Jake Ryan. Gosh. He's cute…not going to lie…until his ego kicked in. Miley can't stand the special treatment he's getting. I mean, I get it. She is Hannah Montana after all, but still…part of me keeps wondering if that's really all she's jealous about. I mean even…I was paying more attention to Jake than Miley. Could Miley be…jealous over me?

So, school dance…Jake asked me to go…how awesome right…granted it was after Miley turned him down, but then Miley went on his television show and figured out she likes him. We end up having this stupid fight over him and end the night dancing with each other. This may sound a little bit odd, but I think it was the BEST DANCE EVER.

Oh, here's an update on the Jake situation, Miley got in over her head trying to make him jealous and he was trying to make her jealous…they ended up KISSING. I LITERALLY fell off the chair I was sitting on. I was ready to kill him. Who does he think he is laying his hands, let alone his lips on MY MILEY. Um…that sounded a little possessive. Not really sure where that came from. The good news…he's going to Romania to do a movie and won't be back for six months. THANK GOD.

**1/17/07**

Woah, check this out. We got this new student at school. All the kids were calling her The Cracker cause she liked to crack walnuts in her bare hands. Well, Miley being the sweet thing she is decides she is going to try and befriend the new girl, cause she remembers what it was like…but then she points out that she had me. Not gonna lie…I almost melted. So she goes over and talks to her…when she comes back, her face is painted with her own lipstick.

Apparently since most of the rest of the school was afraid of her, no one had a chance to tell her that there is one thing you don't do…no one touches Miley without her permission. So, I walked over to her, grabbed her by the back of the shirt and dragged her outside to the flag pole. She was quite frightened that someone half her size was manhandling her. Anyway, I picked up a rock and crushed it in my hands. You should have seen the look on her face. I think she may have peed herself, but I'm not certain. I finished by telling her that if she lays a hand on anyone again, particularly on MY best friend, that I would personally hoist her ass up the flagpole by her underwear. She didn't seem to believe me so I picked her up about a foot off the ground and held her against the pole, she suddenly saw me in a whole new light. I don't think she's even looked at Miley or I since that day.

When I came back inside, Miley kept staring at me for the rest of the day. It was kind of weird. When I finally asked her what it was up, she mumbled something about 'my hero'.

**2/21/07**

Okay, so Miley and I got into this little fight today at school. We were playing flag football in gym class. And Miley was complaining that she always gets picked last. Which, she does. They actually call her Stinky Stewart. Well, she isn't very athletic…which is kinda surprising since she can dance like no bodies business. Go figure. Anyway…so coach makes me and Joanie captains. Well, Joanie starts running her mouth about how she's gonna win. Typical. Well, Miley comes up with this bet that loser gets a haircut. I was like WHAT? I love my best friend immensely, but there was NO FREAKIN WAY I was getting my head shaved. So…Miley ends up getting picked last. She was hacked off at me.

So…at her concert later that night, she wouldn't take me in the limo. I was like really? She even made a point to give my seat to a fichus. Immature…I know.

Okay, so at this point…we aren't talking. Which was starting to get to me, but it was all her fault in the first place! There was no way that I was going to be the one to apologize. I know I can be a little hard headed, but what's right is right.

Enter poor Oliver. Miley won a Silver Bootie for Best Pop Country Crossover for True Friend. Instead of coming to me to celebrate…she goes to Oliver. So we start fighting over Oliver after I asked him to go surfing and Miley still wanted to hang out with him. So Oliver gets this stellar idea to handcuff us together. We convince him to undo it since Miley has to go accept her award, but the doughnut lost the key! Unreal.

So we send Oliver for the key. After he leaves I look at Miley and ask her if she wants to fix the problem or if she wants me to. She looks at me like I'm crazy. I phase out of my end of the handcuffs and stare at her smugly. She gives me the cutest glare and then uses her power to unlock hers. Okay, so we can get out of our situation, but how are we supposed to explain it to Oliver?

So we decide that we'll go get ready and put the cuffs back on so that Oliver can come to the studio and be the hero and so that we wouldn't have to lie to him about how we got out of the handcuffs. (Granted, if he weren't such a doughnut he would have figured out that we couldn't have gotten dressed still cuffed together, but whatever.)

We get to the studio and the doughnut cuts it close. About a minute before air time, Oliver shows up…and BREAKS THE KEY before he opens the cuffs. We are surrounded by people, including Oliver so neither one of us can risk using our powers. I end up sitting behind her pretending my right arm is hers so we can hide the handcuffs.

Mr. Stewart is beyond awesome. He wrote the sweetest speech. Miley and I both felt really silly after Hannah read it to the entire country. Needless to say we made up after that.

Once we got back in the limo, we used our powers to remove the handcuffs again. Later we told Oliver that one of the technicians at the studio was able to get them off for us. What a doughnut.

**4/24/07**

Well, everyone decided to pick on my tomboyish appearance today…Miley included. Apparently the ninth grade is when tomboys are supposed to turn into girls…or some weird crap like that.

Well, one of my dudes Matt Marshall walked over to the table and I rambled some crap off about crushing on him…which I so did…at the skate park…he kicks ass on the half pipe. I guess I just didn't want Miley to think it was odd that I didn't care about the dance. The only reason I didn't care was because she couldn't be there because of her Hannah concert.

So, Miley gets me a date for the dance, which was kinda cool. Later at the beach, Miley is ragging on me for still acting like a guy and says that Matt might change his mind. Of course this just happens to coincide with Matt flirting…or being flirted with by Amber and Ashley. So…I tell Miley to "girl me up". What the hell was I thinking??

The next day I am at school in heels, a skirt, way too much jewelry…more makeup on my face than when I am Lola and more mousse in my hair than Tina Turner! Ironically, my skater friends were the first ones to hit on me. It was kinda sad…and made Miley all…"see I was right". Matt seemed a little shocked…but he didn't say much.

So…I ended up being stood up. I waited on Miley's porch. And you know what the weirdest part of this entire situation was? When I told Miley what had happened and she wrapped her arms around me…I wasn't that upset anymore…cause I was finally right where I wanted to be in the first place. With her.

Oh I found out later that she dedicated One in a Million to me at the concert that night. Ironic, ain't it?

The next day, Miley chewed Matt up one side and down the other. He confessed that he liked the skater chick better than the glamour girl.

She apologized for trying to change me and swore never to do it again. I guess that was okay, but then again…I would do anything for her.

**5/12/07**

So last night's Hannah concert was awesome…Miley did SIX encores. She was rocking it.

There was one tiny little problem…she KILLED her voice. She sounded like a frog. So her dad came up with this great idea for her not to speak for a week! I remember when we first met and how I was drawn to the sound of her voice…after seven days of not hearing it…I was ready to cry. I missed it.

We were all there for the big voice check. Leave it to Jackson to annoy her enough to talk. I was the first person she wrapped her arms around. It was so great to see her so happy. And I think I may have been a little over enthusiastic when I told her how good it was to hear her voice again. Better that I said that and not how nice it was to have her in my arms…right?

For the record, Miley's throat surgery went fine. Hannah can still rock the house.

**6/24/07**

This keeping my mouth shut thing is getting harder around Miley. Today we were going over a tabloid article that said Hannah was really a man. Miley says she looks good in a mustache. Then she says she would definitely date herself. I agreed and said 'me too'. The look on Miley's face almost broke my heart. We backed away from each other and said awkward at the same time. I guess she doesn't feel the way I do…that's why I will NEVER tell her.

Just when I think things can't get any worse…guess who comes freaking parachuting out of the sky?!? Yep, that stuck up annoying dirtball is back. God, I wish he actually had a decent career that would keep him away indefinitely. Yes, I am talking about none other than Jake Ryan.

Okay, so he kisses Miley's ass for a while, showers her with gifts…she still says no…which makes me happy. Then we are sitting there watching the interviews at his movie premier and when asked when he knew he was in love…he says Miley's name! I stared at the TV with my jaw hanging open.

Of course she went running into his arms after that little admission. I was soooo PISSED.

So now they're dating. Damnit. Oh and get this one…she calls me in tears about how Jake was so honest with her and she has to lie to him. NOW she wants to tell him about Hannah!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!! But being the loving and supportive person I am…I tell her to go for it. If she really thinks its for the best.

So, she tells him…I know right? I couldn't believe she actually did it. Teach me to be careful about the good advice I offer. So they go on a few dates…Miley is flipping out cause Jake's fans are freakin everywhere. Sigh. So, Miley asks Oliver and me to go on a group outing…which of course we agree to do for her…cause you know…anything for Miley…even sit and be miserable as I watch her with her boyfriend.

Any who...Jake shows up in disguise. He wanted to make things easier for Miley. It worked…for a few minutes…until he realized that it meant being no better than anyone else. Yeah, his ego and a secret identity…never gonna happen.

By the end of the night, Oliver and I both were at the end of our rope. We were ready to confront Miley and guess what?! She AGREED with us! Can you imagine? She wanted to dump Jake. I was soooo happy.

So, she goes to a premier with him and wears the craziest dress I have ever seen and does everything she can to embarrass Jake. Yeah, didn't work…he thought she wanted the spotlight. Are all men this stupid? So apparently they had a fight and he threatened to tell her secret.

Well, after I get off the phone with a crying Miley, I immediately head for Jake's house. Let's see, it took holding him off the ground for a minute by his throat and punching off part of a marble statue for him to get the message. I warned him that if Miley's secret ever came out, that he would be out. I can't be positive, but I think the zombie slayer pissed himself. Must be something about breaking stone that just freaks people out. I left with a satisfied grin and told him to do something nice to make Miley feel better.

Miley called me about half an hour after I left Jake's. Apparently, he sent flowers and a nice note promising never to breath a word of her secret.

Mission accomplished. The things I do for the love of my life. Did I really just write that? Woah.

**8/4/07**

Okay I asked Miley to make a CD for my mom for her birthday. She gets this great idea that it would be better if I sang it myself. Well alright…anything for free. She made me sing One in a Million…it was really hard singing that of all things with her on the other side of that glass watching me…I know that made me way too nervous to sing….but I forced it anyway.

So the following day Miley plays the CD for me…and it actually sounded pretty good. I was quite surprised. I can sing a cappella really well…but Miley's sound is so hard to try to copy.

So we end up having a karaoke competition at the school. Of course queen bitch is running off her mouth…and don't ask me what possessed to do it. But I made a competition out of it.

Here's where the story gets amusing. That afternoon at Miley's house, she confesses that her dad did some massive remixing to make my voice sound like it did on my mom's CD.

I took this opportunity to teach Miley a lesson. We had promised that we wouldn't lie to each other any more. So I played the drama queen role and made her think I was going to humiliate myself. She actually offered to sing for me.

Anyway, night of the competition, I let Miley think that she is going to sing for me. Oliver sets everything up. I get on stage and put the microphone down. Two skater friends of mine jump on stage with a box and a guitar. One hands me a tambourine and we go to town. I start singing an acoustic version of a song I found online called _You Are the Only One_.

**Forever is a long time, I'm not gonna lie ****Is that a promise you can make**

**Are we in the right place at the wrong time Right now I really need some space**

**Together on the front line, look me in the eye Tell it straight to my face**

**Are we going to work it out or pack it in I guess this is the chance we take**

**'Cause you are the only one that gets me, knows me, feels me, has me**

**And you are the only one who's close enough to drive me crazy**

**Frustrate me, complicate me, make it harder than it needs to be**

**But the things that you do and the things that you say ****Make me want to stay**

**Everything is alright, some of the time Are we going through a phase**

**Are we moving too fast, going too slow Am I just afraid to make mistakes**

**I want to keep it real now and don't make a sound I want to see it in your eyes**

**Are we going to shake it up or knock it down But deep inside I know that we'll survive**

**'Cause you are the only one that gets me, knows me, feels me, has me**

**And you are the only one who's close enough to drive me crazy**

**Frustrate me, complicate me, make it harder than it needs to be **

**But the things that you do and the things that you say Make me want to stay**

Miley looked like she had been hit by a freight train. Whether that was because she was surprised that I could actually sing my way…or if she actually listened to the words of the song…I'm not sure…but I wish I did.

**10/19/07**

Just when I think things are moving in the right direction…HE comes back. He is like athlete's foot. No matter what you use, it just comes back. Sigh. So gee, he wants to be friends with Miley. Okay, I am down with that.

Here's the kicker. He's got another movie. Yeah, whoopee. But wait, his co-star? Mikayla. I know, how perfect for me right? Yeah well, Miley gets all territorial.

She actually goes as far as making me trap Mikayla so that she can try and get her fired. And I am a complete idiot for going along with it. It was kinda of funny to watch Mikayla trying to put up any resistance against me. The little pop diva is a wimp, let me tell you.

In the end, Miley apologizes to Jake and Mikayla and I get threatened with a restraining order if I ever go near Mikayla again. Heh. Oh the horror.

Bright side…Jake is off again to go shoot another stupid movie. I think he's gone for another four months. Life is looking up again.

* * *

**Well, I think that Lilly has got it pretty much figured out...Miley...not quite. And its only gonna get worse...ah teenage angst. - Jess**


	15. Ch 14 Another Little Piece of My Heart

**Hey y'all..being sick sucks...I do NOT recommend it. LOL Thanks for all the comments and reviews.**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 14 - Take Another Little Piece of My Heart**

**Malibu, California; November 12, 2007**

On this breezy autumn evening, the Stewarts were hosting the Seaview High School P.T.A. meeting at their house.

The meeting had just ended, and Robbie Ray was standing on the porch saying goodbye to the various parents that had attended, and falsely complimenting them on their vegetarian dishes.

After the last parent left, Robbie Ray and Miley walked back into the house. "Dang it honey doesn't anybody in California eat meat anymore?" he asked his daughter. Before Miley could respond to his question, they overheard Lilly's mom, Heather talking on her cell phone.

"That's a large pepperoni, sausage pizza and a big old bucket of bacon on the side." she noticed that all eyes were on her. "Oh I'm sorry, did…did you guys want something?" she asked with an innocent smile on her face.

Robbie Ray walked over and put his hand on Lilly's shoulder. "Lilly that's what I love about your mom. Looks like an angel but eats like a truck driver." he said and began collecting trash from around the living room.

Lilly was heading to the kitchen when her mom stopped her and asked through a gritted smile. "Is that supposed to be a compliment?" Despite spending quite a bit of time with Robbie Ray over the years, she was never sure how to take him when he started using delightful southern comparisons.

Lilly looked over her shoulder at her best friend's father and smiled as she turned back to her mother. "From him? Oh yeah." she said cheerily and continued to the kitchen with her load of trash.

Jackson came down the stairs at that moment and started talking to his father. "Finally, they're gone. Dad, the next time you host a PTA meeting at least have it out in the hot tub so I can see Lilly's mom in…" before he could finish his thought, he turned his head to see the object of his comment standing in the kitchen with the girls. "the kitchen. Hey Ms. T." he said, clearly embarrassed with what he had been saying. He turned back to his father and hissed at him. "Warn a guy!" he said, stomping back up the stairs.

Miley shook her head and then leaned over to comment to Heather. "And he doesn't have a girlfriend. Go figure."

As Robbie reached the kitchen, he addressed Heather as the girls headed back to the living room to collect the last of the trash. "Heather, I appreciate you and Lilly staying over, but y'all don't have to stay and help us clean up." he said.

Heather narrowed her eyes at the kind southerner. "You just want that pizza all to yourself." she said, jabbing her index finger in his chest accusingly.

Robbie chuckled and gently shook his head. "That is not true. But I will wrassle you for that bucket of bacon."

Heather was slightly confused. "Why isn't he laughing?" she asked Miley.

Miley got an extremely serious look on her face when she answered Heather. "Man don't joke about his bacon." she explained and headed back into the living room to join Lilly.

Lilly watched their parents chat amicably in the kitchen from a distance and had to smile. There was no one in this world she would sooner see her mother with than Robbie Ray. He had been wonderful to Lilly over the years. Lilly reached out and grabbed Miley's arm and pulled her close to whisper in her ear. "Is it just me or are they actually starting to like each other?" she asked conspiratorially.

Miley turned her head to regard their parents. With a huge smile on her face she turned back to Lilly. "You mean like? Or like-like?" she said, waggling her eyebrows up and down at the last part.

The girls regard their parents once again in time to hear Robbie Ray tell any awful joke about Jimmy's Steakhouse and see Heather laugh in response.

The girls look back at each other and then simultaneously agree. "Like like."

Lilly got a far away look on her face for a moment, then commented to Miley. "I haven't seen my mom even look at a guy since the divorce." She thought for the briefest second how awesome it would be to have Robbie Ray as her dad. "It'd be so cool if they started dating." she muttered.

Miley was having similar thoughts. Heather was amazing. She was sweet and caring and always willing to help the girls. No one would ever take Susan's place, but Miley could certainly find another place in her heart for a step mom like Heather. "It'd be even cooler if they got married." Miley answered back.

After the girls finished their own conversation, they focused back on their parents in time to hear them making plans to go out. "So, how about Saturday?" Robbie asked.

Heather had a huge grin on her face as she happily replied. "It's a date."

Miley grinned at Lilly. "We're gonna be sisters." she said beaming.

Lilly heard Miley's words and her heart sank to the pit of her stomach. She didn't want to be Miley's sister. She wanted so much more. Too bad for Lilly that Miley obviously didn't feel the same way.

A little later that evening, Heather was sitting in her living room watching television when Lilly came downstairs and plopped down next to her. "Mom, we talk about everything, right?" she asked, staring at her hands on her lap.

Heather muted the television and turned to regard her daughter. Clearly, something was going on. "Of course. Did something happen at school? Or with Miley?" she asked, running the back of her hand over her cheek.

"Well, kind of." she said, still not looking at her mother. After a moment, she finished her thought. "It's…complicated." she explained, shrugging her shoulders.

Heather wrapped a comforting arm around her daughter's shoulders. "Talk to me angel." she said softly.

Lilly took a deep breath and turned her head to regard her mother curiously. "Why are you going out with Miley's dad?" she asked.

Heather wasn't sure if Lilly was happy or not. The question didn't seem accusatory, but she didn't seemed especially happy about it either. Heather considered her response carefully. "Well, to be honest. I'm lonely. It's been almost five years." she said, not looking at her daughter, but staring straight ahead. "And I've been thinking about it a lot. And Robbie knows all about you girls and me. He certainly knows how to keep a secret. We've been friends all this time, so I guess I just decided why not?" she said truthfully.

Lilly considered what her mom had just said. It made perfect sense and was totally reasonable. Five years was a long time. "But, what happens if you would decide to get married?" she asked.

Heather was slightly shocked at her daughter's question. "Um, okay." she said with a curious face. "Honey, you are kinda rushing things just a little, don't you think?" she asked gently. She had only agreed to go out on a date, it was definitely way to early to consider marriage. She had dated her ex-husband for four years before they got married.

Lilly felt ashamed for intruding into her mother's personal affairs. "Well, it could mean that I end up with a brother and sister." she explained.

Now Heather had enough information to piece together what her daughter was worried about. This wasn't about Robbie and her at all. It was about Lilly and Miley. Heather chuckled briefly at the thought. 'When wasn't it about Lilly and Miley?' she thought to herself. "Would this be the part where it gets complicated?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Kinda, sorta, maybe, just a little bit?" she said, trying to look as innocent as possible. And turned away from her mother as she felt the blood rushing to her cheeks.

Heather lifted her left hand up and gently pulled Lilly's chin so that she could look her in the eyes. "Angel, talk to me." she said softly. "Do you have a problem with Miley's dad?" she asked softly.

Lilly shook her head emphatically. "Oh God no!" She sighed and then told her mother how she felt about the country singer. "He's been better to me than my father ever was." Lilly saw the surprise register on her mother's face and thought she had offended her. "Sorry." she mumbled in an attempt at a half hearted apology.

Heather shook her head. "Don't apologize for speaking the truth."

Lilly nodded. "Okay." Lilly felt her palms beginning to sweat and vigorously rubbed them on her pants. "Anyway, well its about…Miley." she said nervously.

Heather thought she knew where her daughter was heading with this, but she wanted Lilly to be the one to say it. "And the fact that…?" she eagerly prompted her.

Lilly took a deep breath and closed her eyes tight. "I-I'm…in love with her." she squeaked out quickly before losing her nerve.

Heather smiled knowingly. It was exactly what she had suspected. "Yeah, cause I didn't see that coming." she commented dryly.

Lilly blinked twice, then stared blankly at her mother. "What?"

Heather began playing with Lilly's bangs as she spoke. "Angel you have never been good at hiding your emotions." she said, slipping a stray bang behind her ear. "And your world has revolved around that girl since you were 11 years old." Lilly tried to look away from her mother, but Heather once again forced her face back around. "If I remember correctly, a while ago I asked you what she meant to you and your answer was everything."

Lilly's ocean blue eyes were wide with concern. She mutely nodded at everything her mother was saying. "So, are you worried about what I might think?" her mother finally asked.

"Maybe." Lilly softly whispered. She really wasn't. Lilly knew how open minded her mother was and really never even consider for a second that her mother could be the slightest bit homophobic.

Heather chuckled and wrapped both arms around her little girl and pulled her into a warm embrace. "I love you. Every part of you. And this has nothing to do with me. This is your choice." she said, trying to convey her support and encouragement for her daughter's situation.

"That's my problem." she muttered, from where her head lay on her mother's chest.

"What is?" she asked, softly stroking her hair.

Lilly swallowed hard and confessed her deepest fear to her mother. "I choose Miley, but she doesn't choose me."

"Did Miley say that?" Heather asked.

"Well, n-no." she stuttered. "I haven't come right out and told her." the surfer explained.

Heather suddenly had the urge to go slap young Miley Stewart senseless. How could see be so stupid? How could anyone have someone so clearly in love with them and not have a clue? Teenagers. "Ah. I see." she said out loud.

Lilly leaned back to look at her mother. "Well, after we overheard you and her dad scheduling a date, she thought it would be cool if we were sisters."

Heather saw the hurt in her daughter's eyes and it was breaking her heart. "Oh Lilly."

"I know you can't make someone love you in that way, but its so hard." Lilly said with a sigh, desperately trying to reign in her emotions before they overwhelmed her. "I mean, I'm thrilled that she's a part of my life and I get to spend so much time with her, but…I want more. But it's not going to happen. And it hurts. A lot." she said as the tears welled in her eyes, threatening to fall.

Heather pulled her daughter back down into another hug. As soon as Heather wrapped her arms around her daughter, Lilly's tears began to fall. "Shhhh, baby. It'll work out somehow. You'll see." she cooed softly in her ear, trying to calm her daughter's aching heart.

"No it won't." she sniffled.

Heather had often wondered if there might be something more between her daughter and her best friend. And even though pointing it out to Lilly would probably be pointless right now, there were several occasions when Miley had the same look in her eye as Lilly. 'You might be surprised.' she thought, but only told her daughter. "We'll see."

Meanwhile at the Stewart household a somewhat similar conversation was going on. "So, you are taking the fine Ms T. out on an official date finally." Jackson teased his father, who was sitting on the living room couch.

Robbie narrowed his eyes at his son sitting on the chair. "Yes. Is that okay?" he asked curiously.

Jackson crossed his arms and stared back at his father. "Aren't you asking the wrong child?" he responded sarcastically.

Robbie Ray sat forward on the couch. "What do you mean Junior?" she said, reaching for the remote control and muting the television.

Jackson nervously wrung his hands together. "How's Miley feel about it?" he asked, eyeing his father.

Robbie Ray shrugged his shoulders. "Well, she seems fine with it." Robbie was desperately trying to understand what his son was trying to get at. Jackson never had problems with him dating before.

"Oh, damn." he muttered.

Robbie Ray slid down the couch until he was on the corner closest to the chair and slapped his son on the leg. "What's on your mind Junior?"

Jackson's mind was racing on how to discuss this with his father. He very rarely stuck his nose in his sister's business, but this seemed like an exception. He didn't want to see her make the biggest mistake of her life, if he could help it. "Dad, did you ever like that Jake Ryan boy?" he slowly began.

Robbie Ray was surprised to say the least. That was not even close to what he was expecting out of his son's mouth. "Ah, heck no!" he answered. He really never did like Jake. The boy was way too stuck on himself to ever take care of any one else.

Jackson briefly nodded. He expected his father to give him an answer along those lines. "Is there anyone you've met that you think would be good enough for Miley?" he asked curiously.

Robbie Ray narrowed his eyes at his son. Clearly, this had nothing to do with him. He was slightly surprised. He knew his children were close, but he didn't realize how close apparently if Jackson was this worked up over Miley's relationship status. "Do you mean… Lilly?" he asked carefully.

Jackson nodded. "Yea."

Robbie Ray just shook his head. He loved his children immensely, but he had never run their lives. And he certainly wouldn't be starting anytime soon. "That's not up to me." he said sadly.

Jackson narrowed his eyes at his father's avoidance of the question. "I asked you what you thought." he demanded.

Robbie sighed and gave his son what he wanted to hear. "I think no one will ever love that girl as much as Lilly already does." he answered honestly, but continued to point out, "But that's not my choice to make."

Jackson nodded his head in agreement. It wasn't their choice, but sometimes you had to give fate a helping hand. "It's not our choice, but couldn't we help things along?" he asked, his eyes bright with the sincerity of his intentions. "I mean you and Lilly's mom, that'd be hurting Lilly's chances, don't you think?" he said, suggesting that maybe their parents shouldn't date.

Robbie Ray chuckled. "You just don't want another sister." he answered sarcastically, not thinking that Jackson was actually serious about his proposal.

Jackson stood up from the chair and yelled at his father. "Are you blind? I already have two sisters. And one of them is absolutely miserable and the other is freaking clueless!" he finished his tirade and then left the living room, stomping up the stairs in frustration.

Robbie Ray sat on the couch and stared blankly at the wall for a few minutes, blinking rapidly. He was slightly shocked by what had just transpired with his son. 'I guess I should try talking to Heather about this.' he thought before unmuted the television.

**Beverly Hills, California, November 17, 2007**

Robbie Ray pulled his Mercedes up to the valet of CUT, one of Wolfgang Puck's steakhouses. "I thought you said we were going someplace casual?" she asked as the door was opened for her. She walked around the car and wrapped her around Robbie Ray's as they walked to the door of the restaurant.

Robbie Ray chuckled. "This is casual." he insisted.

Heather's eyes opened wide in shock. "It's one of the finest steakhouses in L.A." she hissed in his ear. "How did you even get a reservation on a Saturday?" she asked as they breezed by the waiting area where dozens of people were either seated on benches or standing around waiting for seating.

Robbie couldn't hide the twinkle in his eye. "Let's just say that Hannah Montana owed me a favor." he said chuckling at his inside joke, then gave the maitre d' his name.

Heather playfully slapped his shoulder. "You're terrible." she said, as the couple followed the young gentleman to their table.

They sat in peaceful silence for a few minutes, checking out the menu, until Robbie could hold his tongue no longer. He set his menu down on the table and interlocked his fingers as he rested them on the tabletop. "Heather, can we talk about the girls?" he asked gently.

Heather was taken aback by Robbie's sudden seriousness. "Um, sure. What about them?" she asked, setting her own menu on the table, giving him her full attention.

Robbie waffled a little bit, trying to find the right words. "Well, uh, do you, I mean, have you noticed any change in their relationship at all?"

At first the words seemed to have no meaning to Heather. Then she remembered the conversation she had with her daughter a few days earlier in their living room. "Oh my God. Did she tell her?" she asked, closing her eyes at the possible implications of that one small act.

Robbie tipped his head to the side in confusion. "Tell her what?" he asked curiously.

Now it was Heather's turn to trip all over her words. "Um, ah, well, you see…"

Robbie Ray reached across the table and set one hand on top of Heather's. "Heather, do you think our girls could be together romantically?" he asked seriously.

Heather searched the southerner's face for any sign of discomfort or anger in that statement and could find none. "Is that a problem for you?" she asked. Better to make sure now and not have any miscommunications down the road.

Robbie smiled. "Heck no. I just wanted to get a woman's perspective. I know what Jackson and I think." he told her.

Heather felt a load lift off her shoulders. She found it incredibly endearing that the country singer cared so much about his children. There were so many wonderful things that Heather adored about the country singer, the list just seemed to get bigger everyday. "I think that my daughter loves yours more than anything else in the world." she responded with a smile and gentled squeezed his hand. "And I think that's the problem." she added sadly.

Robbie looked away from Heather's beautiful green eyes. "Why is that?" he asked.

Heather sighed. "Because Miley doesn't feel the same way." she explained.

Robbie looked back up to Heather's eyes with a sad smile on his face. "So, we're all on the same page." he informed the blonde. "Jackson actually suggested that dating you was bad for them." he said, watching Heather's eyes grow wide with amazement. "Encouraging the sisters aspect." he added in explanation.

'It would be so easy to fall in love with this man. As much as I love our girls, I am not going to doom myself to loneliness. I am going to give this relationship a fair chance.' she thought to herself. Looking at Robbie, she felt the need to ask one question which she didn't want left unasked. "Do you miss Susan?" she asked quietly.

Robbie's eye went wide with total shock. He never considered for a moment his deceased wife coming up in tonight's conversation. Knowing full well that it was not wise to lie to a loved one, Robbie decided to be honest and deal with whatever consequences it brought. "Everyday." he answered reverently.

Heather smiled and nodded her head in understanding. "And while I don't miss John, I do miss my husband." Heather added her second hand to the pile in the middle of the table, gently stroking the guitar player's hands. "Miley has to decide things in her own time." Heather explained and then tipped her head until she caught Robbie eyes. "And I don't think that either of us should put our lives on hold for something that may take years…or may never even happen." she said sadly.

Robbie could read the pain and frustration in Heather's last sentence. Lilly was apparently deeply in love with Miley. "I could try talking to her." he offered as a compromise, willing to do anything to help this situation resolve itself.

Heather shook her head adamantly. "Don't you dare put any pressure on that girl. If its meant to be, then it will." she said then took a deep breath, releasing the tension she was feeling. "Now, can the rest of the night be about us?" she asked with a glint of playfulness in her eyes and a sly smile playing on her lips.

Robbie Ray thought that she looked quite alluring. His children were important to him, but maybe just tonight, he could not think about them for a change. "I'd like that." he whispered, bringing Heather's hand up to his lips and gently kissing her knuckles.

Their eyes remained locked until the waiter came over to take their order.

**Malibu California, November 23, 2007**

It was the night of Miley's 15th birthday. The Stewarts were having a small gathering at their house. Heather, Lilly, Oliver, Jackson, Robbie and Miley were gathered around the dining room table where a Hannah Montana cake (Jackson thought it would be humorous) was ablaze with fifteen candles.

The group had just finished singing happy birthday and Miley had blown out her candles. As Heather and Robbie started getting the stuff to dish out the cake, Lilly leaned over the back of the chair and whispered in Miley's ear. "What did you wish for?"

Miley whipped her head around to regard her best friend. "I can't tell you! It won't come true." she said, chuckling at the hurt look on Lilly's face. As soon as Lilly put on the pout, the singer knew she would give in. The surfer just had that effect on her. Miley leaned forward and cupped her hand around Lilly's ear, so no one else heard her wish.

"I wished that one day this were my real family."

At first, Lilly was excited by the singer's hot breath on her ear, but the feeling was quickly squashed once her brain processed what the whispered words actually meant. "I'll uh, be right back." she said, and quickly made her way up the stairs.

Miley watched her best friend run up the stairs. She had seen the look on her face. It seemed like a cross between pain and horror. Miley was immediately concerned about her best friend. She took off after the blonde less than fifteen seconds later.

Miley opened her bedroom door. "Lilly?" she softly called out. She saw her standing against the balcony door and looking out the window. "What's wrong?" she asked, slowly walking towards the blonde.

Lilly shook her head and refused to lock eyes with the brunette. "Nothing." she stated adamantly.

Miley narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. "Don't lie to me." she told the blonde.

Lilly sighed and brushed by the singer walking back across the room to the bedroom door. "I'll be fine. I promise."

Miley didn't understand what was happening, but she knew that something was upsetting her best friend. "Lilly stop." she said, then threw her hand out to stop her best friend's retreating form.

Lilly had frozen in mid pace, captured by the power of Miley's mind. "Miley. Let me go." she demanded, then reconsidered her tactic. "Please." she begged.

Miley shook her head. "Not until you tell me what's bothering you." she said.

Lilly sighed. She wasn't ready for that conversation. Not here. Not now. Not yet. "You know I can get out of this if I try hard enough." she told the brunette. Lilly was thankful that they were facing away from each other.

"You won't hurt me, so that's an empty threat." Miley countered.

The tone of Lilly's voice was meek when she responded, obviously remembering the last time something like this had happened. "No, you're right. I never would." she vowed seriously. She couldn't use her strength after what had happened last time, but what would happen if see tried it the other way?

Lilly thought about her body being in pieces. She tried to advance forward, but it still wasn't working. Miley's mind still held her. The blonde glanced at the floor and wondered how completely Miley had tried to trap her. As she thought about falling through the ceiling, her body slowly dropped lower, until finally her head had disappeared though the floor.

Miley stared at the spot where her best friend had once again pulled a disappearing act in front of her eyes. "Sweet niblets." she swore and headed back out of her bedroom to rejoin the party.

Before Miley reached the bottom of the landing, Oliver was grabbing her by the upper arm. "What did you do to her?" he growled at the brunette.

Miley was slightly taken aback by the anger in Oliver's typically friendly visage. "I didn't do anything?!?" she insisted as she pulled her arm from his grasp.

Oliver turned to look out on the back deck and then back at the brunette. "Why is she so upset?" he demanded.

Miley shrugged her shoulders in defeat. She tried to help, but obviously Lilly didn't want her help. "I don't know. She won't tell me." she said feeling defeated and then briskly walked away from Oliver towards the kitchen.

Oliver watched Miley walk away and then turned back to the deck. He decided to try talking to Lilly. "Lilly?" he said, as he opened the door.

Lilly took a deep breath, wiped the tears from her eyes, but stayed facing away from the newcomer. "Yeah Oliver?" she said, still staring at the ocean.

Oliver placed a hand on her right shoulder. "Did she hurt you?" he whispered softly.

Lilly whipped around, shocked that Oliver would even suggest that Miley would ever do that to her. "What?"

Oliver saw her tear stained face and felt a sharp pain in his chest. Oliver released her shoulder and shrugged helplessly. "Well, you're upset and won't tell her what's wrong. To me that just screams that it was something she did." he explained as he shoved his hands in his pockets and trying not to look in her eyes. Unable to stand looking at his best friend in so much pain.

"It's not what she did." Lilly said, then turned back around. "It's who she is." she whispered staring out over the ocean once more.

Oliver heard Lilly's last comment, but still didn't quite understand. "Hannah Montana?" he questioned softly.

Lilly just shook her head. "No, just let it go." she begged. "Please."

"Fine." he said and turned back to go into the house.

As he put his hand on the doorknob, he turned to regard the blonde surfer one last time. "You know if you don't tell me Jackson's going to come out." he pointed out.

Lilly leaned forward and leaned on the railing. "Oliver, I'm fine. Really. Talking about it isn't going to fix the problem." she said in a defeated tone and sniffled repeatedly.

Oliver said nothing more as he opened the door and headed back into the house. He immediately sought out Jackson and rushed over to his side. "Jackson. I need your help." he said quietly.

"What's up?" he asked.

Oliver looked around until he found Miley in the kitchen talking to her dad. "Lilly's on the back deck crying her eyes out." he explained.

Jackson closed his eyes. "Damnit Miley." he swore.

Oliver eyed the singer's brother carefully. "So, it is about Miley?" he said, trying to get confirmation.

Jackson opened his eyes and look at the other boy carefully. Neither one of them had ever been too popular with the ladies. "Ever had a crush on someone that didn't crush back?" he asked, knowing that Oliver would understand what he was talking about.

Oliver's eyes went wide with both understanding and sympathy. "Oh shit."

"Exactly." he said, as he hurried toward the kitchen and exchanged a few words with his sister. After that, he headed to the back deck to see if he could keep the blonde surfer in one piece. As he opened the door, he heard the sounds of her sniffling in between the rolling of the waves. Finally he called out to her. "Lilly?"

Lilly chuckled mirthlessly. "Jackson. You come for the strike out?" she said sarcastically.

Jackson walked up and joined her leaning against the rail, close enough that their shoulder's were touching. "Yeah right. I bet I can hit the homerun." he stated smugly.

"Go for it." she responded, still not looking at the boy.

Jackson turned to face her. "It was her wish."

That got Lilly's attention. "What?" she said, turning to look at Jackson's face.

Jackson smiled proudly. "I asked what you guys were talking about before you got all upset."

Lilly eyed him warily. "Did she tell you what it was?"

"No." he said. "And you don't have to either. I'm guessing it'll only upset you more." he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. "Do you want me to talk to her?"

Lilly shook her head. "No. Just let it go." she begged as she wrapped him in a firm hug.

"I hate seeing you like this." he said and leaned down to kiss her forehead lovingly.

"Trust me, being like this sucks." she answered, burrowing herself more into his shoulder.

"It makes me want to beat the crap out of her." he said in all seriousness.

Lilly pulled back from his embrace and narrowed her bloodshot eyes at him. "Then I would have to hurt you." she said menacingly.

Jackson smiled. "Right. That would be bad." he agreed.

Lilly laughed as Jackson's easy going manner helped lighten her mood. "You're always there when I need a shoulder to cry on." she told him.

Jackson stuck his tongue out at her. "What are big brothers for?" he asked, then pulled her back in for one last bear hug.

Neither Jackson nor Lilly were aware that they were being watched. Miley may not have been able to hear what they were saying, but she clearly saw how they were with one another. Jackson made her smile. Jackson hugged her and even kissed her.

It wasn't fair. Why wouldn't Lilly let her do those things? Miley turned away from the touching scene and returned to the kitchen feeling cheated. It was her birthday, but it seemed like Jackson was the one that got the best gift of all.

* * *

**Okay, so we have three more chapters left in this installment. Miley thinks Lilly and Jackson have a thing...heh. I'm evil. - Jess**


	16. Ch 15 Miracle

**I'm editing this chapter for the second time after my corrections got eaten...grrrr.**

* * *

**Chapter 15 - Miracle **

**Malibu, California; November 24, 2007**

It was the day after Miley's 15th birthday. She had a concert to do that evening in Los Angeles, but right now she didn't even feel like getting out of bed.

She turned on her side and stared at her alarm clock. 10:45 A.M. It wasn't a ridiculously late time to sleep till on a Saturday. Miley's problem was that she hadn't really slept for more than an hour at a time all night long. She was hounded by nightmares of Lilly and Jackson being together romantically.

Finally, determining that she would not be able to sleep any more, she dragged herself out of bed and headed downstairs to scrounge up something for breakfast.

As she walked into the kitchen, she was surprised to see her father leaning on the counter reading a magazine and sipping some orange juice. "Morning daddy." she said as she headed for the refrigerator.

Robbie Ray smiled brightly at his only daughter. "Morning darlin." he called back cheerfully.

Miley pulled the milk out of the refrigerator and set it on the counter. She reached for a bowl and then set it down next to the milk. Lastly, she grabbed the cereal and filled her bowl. After pouring the milk, she carried her bowl over to the counter and set it next to her father. "Can I ask you something?" she asked quietly, grabbing a spoon from the drawer.

Robbie set down his magazine. "Sure Bud, What's up?" he said, giving her his full attention.

Miley used the spoon to play with the cereal in her bowl. "Do you know…is there something going on between Jackson…and Lilly?" she finally had the courage to ask.

Robbie Ray was shocked. Where on Earth did Miley get an idea like that from? "Um, no. Why?" he asked.

Miley shrugged and took a bite of her cereal before answering her father. "Um, they just looked really cozy with each another last night at my party." she said miserably.

Robbie Ray narrowed his eyes at his daughter. He couldn't understand where she had gotten this idea. But more importantly, he wanted to understand why exactly it would bother her. He had a pretty good idea what it was, but he wanted to hear it from his little girl. "Does that bother you?" he asked curiously.

Miley could only stutter a non-believable response. "N-No. N-not really."

Robbie Ray shook his head at her feeble response. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "You don't sound too sure of yourself there Bud." he told her.

Miley pulled away from him and put her cereal bowl in the sink. As she turned the water on, she replied to her father. "It's nothing. I mean, its their lives. If they make each other happy, then who am I to judge." she said, then rushed out of the kitchen and back to the safety of her room.

Robbie watched his daughter high tail it out of the kitchen with a smile playing at the corner of his lips. Maybe things were heading in the right direction.

He reached into his pocket and typed a very familiar number.

"Hello." the voice on the other end answered merrily.

Robbie Ray chuckled. "Good morning sunshine. How are you this fine morning?" he asked the blonde that was quickly worming her way into his heart.

It was Heather's turn to giggle. "I wish I had gotten some more sleep. Must have stayed out late at a party." The older folks had spent hours on the back deck while they let the kids watch movies. Finally, at about 3 in the morning, Heather decided it was time to take Oliver home and then get her and Lilly home as well.

"You didn't have to leave. You could have just spent the night." he told her in all seriousness.

Heather knew that he had wanted her to spend the night last night. It wasn't about having sex. They weren't ready for that yet. But they were both ready to not wake up to an empty bed. "No, the kids are dealing with enough right now. I don't think they're ready for adult sleepovers just yet." she politely informed the country singer.

Robbie Ray was determined not to mess this relationship up for anything. He would let Heather set the pace and wouldn't put an unnecessary pressure on her. But at the same time, he also wanted to be very clear about his intentions. "Yes ma'am. Anyway, I called because I just had an interesting conversation with Miley."

Heather's ears perked up at Robbie's words. It had to be important for him to actually call about it. "Oh? What about?" she asked curiously.

"She asked me if Lilly and Jackson were involved?" he explained.

Heather furrowed her brows in confusion. "Really? Where did she get that idea from?" she wondered.

Robbie shrugged as he explained everything he knew. "She said they looked cozy last night." He thought back to last evening. "After the cake, she did kind of avoid Miley a little bit."

Heather looked up to see Lilly walking into their kitchen after her morning session of surfing. "Speak of the devil. How about I catch you up on my conversation at lunch?" she asked with a smile. When she didn't hear any response from the southerner, she offered an option. "Meet you at the corner café at 12?"

Robbie smiled happily. "It's a date." he told her. "See you soon."

Lilly walked over and reached into the refrigerator to grab the pitcher of iced tea. "Robbie Ray?" she asked as she headed to the cabinet to get a glass.

Heather flashed a playful grin at her daughter as she closed her cell phone. "What would make you say that?" she asked in a light-hearted tone.

Lilly rolled her eyes. "Oh, the huge smile on your face and the impending lunch date?" she sarcastically threw back at her mother with a smile as she took a drink of her tea.

"Smart alec." she sneered playfully at her daughter. "So, did you have fun at the party last night?"

Lilly was so surprised at what her mother had asked her that she briefly lost control and the glass of iced tea phased through her hand to shatter on the kitchen floor.

Heather was shocked by what had just happened. She hadn't seen Lilly lose basic control like that in quite a while. "Lilly, are you all right?" she asked, clearly concerned.

Lilly waved her hand at her mother's concern. "Yeah, I don't know what made me do that. I'm so sorry." she said as she walked to the corner to get the dustpan to clean up the mess that she had just made.

Heather walked over to her daughter and stopped her from sweeping the glass shards up. "Years have taught me that you only do that when you're upset." she said, poignantly looking in her daughter's eyes.

Lilly sighed, knowing there was no reason to lie to her mother. "I just keep getting more signs that Miley just isn't interested in me and it's kinda depressing." she admitted.

"Did something happen last night?" Heather asked gently.

"Just more sisterly feelings." she said disgustedly.

Heather released her daughter's arm and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Have you tried coming out and telling her how you feel? Maybe its something she's honestly never thought about before."

Lilly blew her bangs out of her face as she contemplated her mother's idea. Finally, she voiced her opinion about it. "It would take a miracle for me to find the courage to do that." As she walked over to the trash to discard the broken glass.

Meanwhile, back at the Stewart's, Robbie Ray was getting ready to go meet Heather for their date. He walked over to his daughter's room and lightly knocked as he entered her room. "Bud, we're leaving for the concert at four." he said, then noticed his little girl curled up in a ball on her bed. "You alright darlin?" he asked, slowly approaching the bed.

"I'm fine." she sighed, not looking at him, but staring intently at a spot on the wall.

Robbie Ray glared at his baby girl. "Liar." he said, gently smacking her leg.

Miley sighed and rolled over to look her father in the eye as she spoke. "It's stupid. And horrible. And heck just plain mean." she explained.

Robbie Ray narrowed his eyes. His daughter could be many things at times, but she was NEVER mean. He didn't think she knew how to be mean honestly. "What is it?" he asked.

Miley's eyes clouded over. "I…I don't want Jackson and Lilly together." she said softly. Miley felt guilty for even thinking such a thing.

Robbie Ray raised his eyebrows in question. "Well, why not?" he asked.

"It just, wouldn't be right." she replied

"Why not?" he asked again.

Miley shrugged. "Well, he's older than she is." she explained.

Robbie didn't think that was a very good argument. "Two years isn't that much Miles." he told his daughter.

"It's just not right." she said again, shaking her head.

"But why?" he demanded once more.

Miley thought for a few seconds before answering him. "They have nothing in common." she answered.

Robbie Ray chuckled. "Video games, sports, music, I think they have quite a few things in common." He crossed his arms over his chest. "That the best you got?" he said, daring her to confess what was really bothering her. He raised his voice slightly as he pushed her for the final time. "Why shouldn't they be together?" he demanded.

Miley snapped. She sat up in the bed and screamed at her father. "She's mine!" she yelled, breathing heavily. After a moment, she realized what she had just done. "Wow, that sounded liked a four year old." she mumbled, cheeks red with embarrassment, she laid back down and curled back into a ball. Eager to forgot about her recent outburst.

"What do you mean she's yours?" he asked gently.

Miley laughed lightly. "She's been my friend since the minute we got here." she said, trying to play off the situation. Miley still couldn't believe what she had said to her father.

Robbie Ray shrugged. He liked how this conversation was going. "So? She's known Jackson the same length of time." he pointed out.

Miley just wanted this conversation to end. "I…I'm sorry. You're right." she told him. 'Time to use the old standby.' she thought. "It must be that time of the month." she said. "I don't know where my head is." Normally, anytime she brought up that time of the month, it made her father clam up like a monk at a porno convention.

Robbie Ray laughed nervously as he thought his daughter was using monthly problems as an excuse, but wasn't willing to have that conversation. "Well, alright. I have some appointments this afternoon, but I'll be back by 3 at the latest." he told her heading for the door. "Love you darlin." he said, hurrying out the bedroom door.

"Love you too daddy." she said called after him. 'Yep, still worked like a charm.' she thought to herself and returned to her earlier sulking position.

Heather saw Robbie approaching the table se was already seated at and smiled warmly at him. "So, how was your morning?" She asked.

Robbie bent down and lightly kissed her on the cheek before sitting down to join her. "Gee, miserable teenage daughter, you?" he answered, unfolding his napkin.

"Miserable teenage daughter. Isn't it amazing how much we have in common?" she asked, while reaching to take a drink from her water glass. "And are we any closer to figuring out how to make us one big happy family yet?" she asked lightly.

Robbie flashed her a toothy grin. "Well, actually I might have some good news on that front."

Heather rested her chin on her hand and leaned forward in her seat. "Oh, do tell." she said encouragingly.

"Miley was in her room in near tears. Then she basically said that Jackson couldn't have Lilly cause she's hers." he informed Heather, with a glint of amusement in his eye.

Heather smiled at the possible implications of such a statement. "Well, isn't this getting interesting." she said. "Could our lives get any more soap operaish?" she asked rolling her eyes.

Robbie Ray considered her comment for a moment, then leaned forward to ask her his next question. "Depends, did you have the keys to your office?" he asked with a mischievous glint in his eye.

Heather eyes narrowed at the singer. "Yes, why?" she wondered.

"I thought we could sneak over and make use of the privacy…and your desk." he told her with a wink.

Heather's mouth went dry. She turned her head toward the approaching waiter and held up her hand. "Check please!" she yelled impatiently.

Robbie Ray chuckled happily at her enthusiastic response.

Miley spent the afternoon in the Hannah closet looking for the perfect outfit to wear to the concert later that evening.

While she was busy trying on outfit after outfit, she argued with herself about what she had told her father earlier. 'Why did I say that of all things? I don't own Lilly. She doesn't belong to me.' she thought as she twirled in her latest outfit. A zebra print skirt, with a yellow top, a black and white belt with yellow leggings underneath. 'But I can't stand the thought of her being with Jackson.' she concluded, sitting on the floor of the closet reaching out for some shoes. 'It just feels all wrong.' she reasoned to herself.

Suddenly she was pulled out of her mental arguments by the object of her affections. "Hey Miles." Lilly called as she walked into the secret closet.

Miley smiled and jumped up from the floor. "Hey Lilly. Ready to get all Lola-fied?" she asked.

Lilly smiled cheekily as she responded. "Hannah's BFF gotta look good." she said then hit a model pose with a stupid look on her face to make Miley laugh.

Miley did laugh, but also thought to herself, 'Look good? She's beautiful.'

The girls spent the next few hours getting dressed and ready to impress the photographers and paparazzi.

Later that night at the concert, everything was going great. Hannah was putting on an amazing show. Miley was flying high after she had spent the afternoon with Lilly. There had been no tension, no uncomfortable silences, and no Jackson. The two girls had so much fun together, that the previous night seemed to be a distant memory.

As Miley was getting close to the end of her set list, Jackson walked over to talk to his other sister. "Hey Lola. How's your night?" he asked her with a wink.

Lilly smiled briefly at the boy, but quickly returned her attention to the blonde on stage. "I'm okay Jackson. Thanks." Lilly sighed, but never took her eyes off the blonde pop star in front of her. "Why doesn't she see it Jackson? I would give her anything," she said as a single tear slid down her cheek.

Jackson stepped closer and put his arm around her shoulder. "I know you would."

As Miley started her final number, _Always Find Your Way Back Home_, she glanced over to see Jackson and Lola looking cozy together on the side of the stage. She desperately tried to push down her emotions and finish the last song before succumbing to the despair she felt flowing threw her body at that moment.

Suddenly, without warning, the noise of the crowd seemed to multiply a hundred times. Miley was used to the roar of the crowd, but this was different. It was like every member of the crowd was standing next to her and screaming in her ear. The sound was absolutely deafening and painful as hell.

Before Miley knew what was happening, she was laying unconscious on center stage.

Lilly watched from the wings as Hannah Montana toppled to the stage. Her breathing hitched as she cried out "Miley!"

Jackson tried tightening his grip around the surfer's shoulders. "Lola you can't." he hissed in her ear. Knowing full well that she wanted to run on stage and rescue Miley.

Lilly turned and glared at the boy. "You can't stop me." she told him in dead seriousness, then phased through his arms and rushed out on the stage towards the woman she loved more than anything.

"Dang flabbit!" he said, looking at his empty arms in dismay. He watched as Lilly picked Miley up slowly and carefully. As she started walking towards the side of the stage, a large stage hand approached Lilly, probably offering to take the pop star off her hands. He watched as Lilly shook her head and walked right by the large man.

Robbie Ray watched Lilly approach with his little girl in her capable arms. Rather than doing anything to cause an argument, he simply looked at Lilly and said, "Take her straight to the limo. Don't stop for anything." he commanded.

Lilly nodded and did as she was instructed.

* * *

**I know I said 3 chapters, but this one winds up getting cut in half...second part of it will be posted seperately sometime later tonight. - Jess**


	17. Ch 16 If I Could Read Your Mind

**Here's the second part...someone pointed out way back when that Miley might be getting a new power. My reasoning for waiting? Lilly never didn't have her powers. Miley basically lost them for 9 years. So I felt there was a very big difference in their level of maturity from a power standpoint. And besides...everything happens for a reason...**

* * *

**Chapter 16 - If You Could Read My Mind**

**Los Angeles California, November 24, 2007**

Miley slowly opened her eyes to assess her surroundings. As she looked around, she cringed as she realized she was once again in an uncomfortable hospital bed, surrounded by pasty white walls. This was becoming like a reoccurring nightmare for the pop star.

'Thank goodness she's awake.' she heard her father say.

She turned her head to see her father approaching her bedside, concern etched in his loving features. "How're you doing darlin?" he asked softly.

Miley narrowed her eyes in slight confusion. "I'm…confused. What happened?" she asked. She tried to remember anything, but the last thing she remembered was staring to sing her last number, then nothingness. "The last thing I remember was singing my encore, then hearing this loud noise, then nothing." she explained.

Robbie nodded his head. "Well, you passed out on stage." he told her.

Miley sighed and closed her eyes. "In front of my fans and everything?" she softly moaned.

Robbie bit his lip at the misery he heard in his little girl's voice. She knew what that kind of publicity would be like. "Yeah." he answered, reaching out and rubbing a hand up and down her blanket covered leg.

Miley threw her hands up in disgust. "Oh great. I bet by tomorrow the tabloids will be saying I have bulimia or anorexia or something." she growled in frustration.

Robbie waited for his daughter to calm down before speaking to her. "Well, any idea why you passed out?" he asked. They needed to know what actually happened so they could come up with a believable lie if they had to tell the press something.

Miley shook her head in aggravation. "I told you, all I remember was this over whelming noise in my head, then nothing." she glared at her father. "Sorry if I'm not being very clear about it." she said, her voice laced with bitterness and looked away from her father.

'Wonder if I should tell her about Lilly?' she heard her father say.

Miley had forgotten that the blonde had been at the concert, just before she passed out. "So uh, where's Lilly?" she asked offhandedly.

Robbie Ray smiled at his daughter. "She's waiting for you." he said, then turned his head to the floor. 'Like she always is.' he finished in his mind.

Miley noticed her father looking shy and knew something had to be wrong. "Daddy, what's wrong?"

Robbie Ray shrugged. His little girl was going to find out about it sooner or later, so he might as well be the one to break the news to her. "Well, Lilly did something, a little foolish last night." he started to explain.

Miley's eyes gradually widened. "What did she do?"

Robbie Ray rubbed with back of his neck with his left hand and tried to avoid looking at his daughter's face. "Well like I said, you passed out on stage…" she paused, trying to gauge her forthcoming reaction. "And she ran out to you…" he trailed off, hoping Miley could put the rest of the pieces in place herself.

Miley covered her eyes with her right hand and sighed. "She carried me off stage, didn't she?" she asked, waiting for the response she knew was coming.

Robbie Ray was prepared to try and placate his daughter. "Now Miles, she was scared." he explained.

"Can't wait to see those pictures." she sarcastically commented.

Robbie Ray glared at his only daughter. "Miley Ray Stewart!" he began.

Miley cut him off. "She shouldn't have done that! It's one thing showing off in front of our families, but doing it in front of 20,000 people?" she said exasperatedly.

Robbie couldn't believe the things that were coming out of his baby girl's mouth. "Miles, she was scared." he insisted.

Miley crossed her arms in front of her chest. "She was stupid." she stated adamantly, staring straight ahead and not looking at her father.

'God, are you that blind?' he wondered about his daughter.

Miley's mouth dropped open at what her father had just said. She turned her head and narrowed her eyes at her father. "What if people start asking questions?" she demanded, trying to justify her anger.

Robbie Ray shrugged his shoulders, not seeing this as much of a big deal as his daughter did. "Then we tell 'em something. Why is this a big deal?" he demanded.

"Because she…just forget it." she huffed.

"Do you want to see her?" he asked his daughter.

Miley sighed. It didn't matter how mad she was at the blonde skater, she was still the most important person in Miley's life, even if she did want to slap her silly right now. "Of course I want to see her." she told him.

Robbie Ray nodded and headed for the door. "Alright, I'll send her in."

'Get your head outta your ass darlin.' he thought.

Miley sat up in shook at what her father had just said. He had never spoken to her like that before. Ever! "What did you say to me?" she demanded.

"Nothin darlin." he replied.

Miley pointed at the country musician. "But you…you just said…" she tried to explain.

Robbie nodded his head, slightly confused. "I'll send her in. Is that okay?" he asked once again to confirm that was what he wanted her to do.

Miley leaned back on the bed, more confused than ever. "Yeah. Go get my crazy flower." she said in a confused tone.

A few minutes passed by until a head of blonde hair poked in the door. "Miles." she called softly, entering the hospital room.

Miley couldn't help but smile. "Lils."

'Thank you to every higher power in the universe that she is okay.' the blonde thought.

Miley did a double take as she heard what the blonde said. She continued to stare at the blonde as she crossed the room.

"I'm so glad that you're alright." Lilly said, as she took a seat on the bed next to Miley. "I was so scared." she whispered.

Miley's head was starting to spin. Things were just weird since she passed out. "What happened after I passed out?" she asked curiously, wondering if Lilly could give her any insight that could explain these strange things that seemed to be happening all of the sudden.

Lilly nodded and carefully explained everything that had happened from her point of view. "Well, I rushed out on stage, picked you up, and carried you back stage. You just seemed to be sleeping. We put you in the limo and brought you to the hospital."

Miley's eyes narrowed at the blonde. "So, you used your power in front of all my fans?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

Lilly rolled her eyes. "Miley, I carried you off stage. I wasn't moving thousands of pounds of sound equipment." she said as she pointed towards the pop star. "You weigh like 90 pounds." she insisted.

Miley closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. "But its going to make people talk." she told the blonde.

'She's embarrassed by me.' Lilly thought, thinking that was what the brunette was trying to tell her. Lilly dropped her head as she mumbled her apology to the brunette. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

Miley heard the sadness in the blonde's words and immediately felt horrible for ever bringing it up. She reached out and grabbed one of the blonde's hands and squeezed it as hard as she could. "Lilly, you don't embarrass me. I just, really like our lives right now. I just don't want anything to screw that up."

'Glad that one of us does.' Lilly thought. "So, any idea why you passed out?" she asked, not letting go of the pop star's hand.

Miley stared at the blonde in confusion. 'Glad that one of us does? Why was everyone saying all these strange things to me all of the sudden?' She wondered. "There was this really loud noise in my head, and then my brain just shut down." she explained to the best of her knowledge.

"Did the doctors say anything?" Lilly wondered.

"I haven't really talked to them yet. Daddy says that they couldn't find anything wrong." she explained.

'Oh god. She has to be fine. I can't lose her.' Lilly thought.

Miley opened her mouth to say something, but had no words to reply to Lilly's heart warming sentiment.

Lilly leaned forward and wrapped her arms around the brunette. "You'll be fine Miles. Everything is going to be fine."

Miley sat and stared blankly, not understanding what was happening to her. "Um, yeah. I'm sure I will." she said, hoping to reassure both Lilly and herself.

Suddenly, a male nurse entered the room causing the girls to pull out of their embrace.

"Sorry to interrupt ladies, but I need to take her vitals." he said, picking up her chart from the foot of the bed.

Lilly smiled. "I'm going to run down and get something from the cafeteria. Be back in a bit." she said, giving Miley's hand one last squeeze before getting up from the bed and heading for the door.

Miley just nodded her head.

The male nurse watched as Lilly walked out of the room. 'Wow, these teenagers get hotter every day. What a sweet ass. Oh how I would love to tap that shit.' he thought to himself.

Miley's eyes narrowed in anger at the way the guy was talking about her best friend. "Excuse me?" she growled in an irritated tone.

The male nurse turned his head to look at Miley directly. "Do you need something miss?" he asked in a calm tone as he took her pulse.

Miley just stared at the nurse. Unable to explain the sudden shift in his personality. "Um, no I just thought…never mind." she finally muttered.

The nurse dropped his eyes from her face and momentarily glanced at her legs that were currently sitting on top of the sheets. 'God she's fine…nice long legs.' he thought.

Miley was beyond uncomfortable at this point. Something wasn't right. "Um, I have to go to the bathroom." she said stupidly, desperately wanting to get away from the man in front of her.

"Okay , can you do it yourself, or do you need some assistance?" he asked professionally.

Miley's eyes went wide with horror. "I'll be fine." she squeaked as she swung her legs over the bed.

The nurse shrugged his shoulders and went back to writing things on her chart. 'Seems a little strange, but with a body like that, I could deal with.' he thought.

Miley sat in the bathroom for ten minutes until the nurse left the room. When she finally walked out, she was happy to see the friendly face that was walking in the door.

"Jackson." she sighed in relief.

"Hey sis." he said, smiling brightly. He was so happy to see her awake. "How're you feeling?" he asked, as he watched her climb back into the hospital bed.

Miley shrugged. "Getting better." she responded. She felt it was a fair assessment of her current status. "Where've you been?" she asked.

"Oh, I was sitting in the waiting room with Lilly." he explained. 'Some one has to keep her calm.' he thought.

Miley was certain that Jackson's mouth had never moved after the word Lilly. "Was she freaking out?" she asked intently staring at her brother's mouth.

"She always does when you get hurt. You mean a lot to her you know?" he explained softly. 'She is madly in love with you after all.' he thought.

Miley's eyes went wide with surprise. She KNEW Jackson had not said what she just heard. "What did you say?" she demanded.

"You mean a lot to her?" he asked questioningly.

Miley shook her head. "No, after that."

"You know?" he answered, shrugging his shoulders.

Miley shook her head again. "No, after that."

Jackson threw his hands up in the air. "That's all I said Miles." he told his sister.

"No, you said that she…" she trailed off as she almost couldn't bring herself to say the words.

"She what?" Jackson demanded.

"was madly in love with me." she finished softly.

Jackson shook his head repeatedly. "I did not." he insisted.

"Yes, you did." she told him.

"Did not." he whined. 'I would never do that to Lilly.' he thought.

Miley growled in frustration. "Argh, what is it with you and Lilly lately?" she demanded.

Jackson suddenly felt liked cornered prey. "What do you mean?" he hesitantly asked.

Miley pointed accusingly at her brother. "You're whispering and holding each other all the time."

'Cause you keep breaking her heart every time I turn around.' he thought, but couldn't come up with an explanation to give his sister regarding his recent bonding with Lilly.

Miley's eyes narrowed at him accusingly. "How am I breaking her heart?" she demanded.

Jackson's eyes were wide. "Okay, I SO didn't say that out loud." Jackson finally figured out what was going on. He turned towards his sister and studied her face carefully as he asked his next question. "Miles, did you just read my mind?" he said, his face totally serious.

Miley considered what her brother was asking. It was ridiculous, wasn't it? "Um, no?" she answered, unsure if her brother was right or not.

"Yes, you did." he thought back to what they had discussed earlier. "What did the noise sound like when you passed out?" he inquired.

Miley shrugged and reiterated her previous answer. "Lots of voices saying different things?"

Jackson contemplated her answer for a moment until the light bulb went off in his mind. "Initial manifestation." he muttered.

Miley narrowed her eyes at her brother. "Dorky big brother say what?"

Jackson tried to explain to his sister what he had thought had happened to her while she was still on stage. "It was the first time you used your new power. It was a shock to your system. And it probably didn't help that it was in front of 20,000 people either." Jackson suddenly realized how this could affect Miley's relationship with Lilly. 'Oh, this is gonna screw things up.' he suddenly thought.

Miley crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her brother. "What am I going to screw up?" she demanded.

"I uh, gotta go." he mumbled and then hurried out of Miley's room.

"Jackson." she shouted at her brother's retreating back, but he didn't stop.

Jackson rushed out to the waiting room and grabbed Lilly's arm. "Lilly, we need to talk. Now." he told her and dragged her outside.

Normally, Lilly couldn't be moved if she didn't want to be, but she trusted Jackson implicitly. "Jackson what…?" she mumbled as they came to a halt outside the emergency room doors.

Jackson debated briefly about how to break the news to Lilly. "Miles, kind of…oh heck, she can read minds now." he finally just flat out told her.

Lilly stared in shock at what Jackson had just told her. "Faux big brother say what?" she demanded.

Jackson nervously rubbed his hands together. "And, she may have found out about you being madly in love with her?" he said apologetically.

Lilly couldn't believe that Jackson had betrayed her. "You told her?"

Jackson threw his hands up in the air. "Of course not! That's how I figured out the mind reading thing." he said pointed back towards the hospital.

Finally, Lilly understood what Jackson was telling her. "So she knows." she whispered softly.

"Yeah, but I don't think hearing it from my head is going to be the same as hearing it come from yours." he told her sadly.

"I can't hide it anymore. Can I?" she said dejectedly.

Jackson shook his head. "No, I just wanted you to be prepared for the next time you talk to her." he said wrapping his arms around her.

A few minutes later, Lilly was standing in front of Miley door trying to gather her courage to face her greatest fear. She gritted her teeth and pushed open the door. "Hey Miley. How you feeling?" she said, walking towards the brunette lying in the bed.

"Hey Lils. Better now." she said.

Lilly was hesitant about bringing up what Miley's brother had told her moments ago. "So, when do you get to go home?" she asked, trying to delay the inevitable. In her mind, she was desperately trying not to think about anything. 'Blank, blank, blank.' she kept thinking repeatedly.

Miley narrowed her eyes at the blonde. "Lils, what's blank blank blank mean?"

Lilly was shocked with the reality that what Jackson had told her was true. "Jackson was right." she mumbled.

"Right about what?" the singer asked.

"You can read minds." the blonde answered. 'shit shit shit shit shit.' she thought over and over.

"Stop swearing." the brunette demanded.

Lilly stared dumbfound at the brunette. "Okay, this is getting a little weird." she admitted.

Miley saw how nervous the blonde was acting and decided that they needed to talk about what her brother had undoubtedly rushed out of the room to tell the blonde. "So, I ah heard something interesting in my brother's head."

Lilly nervously chuckled, unable to do much else at this point. "Oh I can only imagine what that might have been."

"Apparently, you're madly in love with me." the singer said softly.

'Shit.' was the only thing the blonde could think at this point.

* * *

**No where to run now Lilly... - Jess**


	18. Ch 17 Confessions

**Almost at the end of this installment....this chapter got squeezed in cause I felt the need to give Oliver his big scene. And it worked. Whee...**

**Thanks to everyone who's reviewed. I love reading everyone's opinions. And sorry about not giving warning about the last cliffhanger...wasn't even thinking about it.**

* * *

**Chapter 17 - Confessions**

**Los Angeles, California; November 25, 2007**

Miley rolled her eyes at the blonde in front of her. "Can you please think of something other than that swear word already?" she demanded.

Lilly stared at the floor, unsure of how to deal with their current situation. "Please get out of my head." she begged the singer.

Miley sighed softly and rubbed her temples. "I'm not trying to be in it." she told the skater honestly.

Lilly finally raised her eyes from the floor and looked into Miley's eyes, saddened to see Hannah's blue contacts instead of Miley's gorgeous brown eyes. "What do you want from me?" she asked.

"The truth finally?" she replied earnestly.

Lilly shrugged her shoulders in defeat. There was no point in denying anything anymore. "The truth? I think I've been falling in love with you since the day we met." she told the singer.

"What?" the brunette whispered softly, shocked by the blonde's confession.

Lilly dared not look away from the brunette for fear of losing her nerve. "You're….everything to me." she admitted.

Miley was trying to process what her best friend was telling her. Was her best friend gay? "But you went out with guys before." she said, trying to work out in her mind how it was impossible for Lilly Truscott to be gay.

Lilly sighed in defeat. "Only when you were dating to try and get my mind off the fact that I couldn't be with you." she truthfully told the singer.

"So, what are you saying?" the singer asked one last time.

Lilly closed her eyes briefly. 'I am totally in love with you.' she thought. The surfer opened her eyes to see shock on her best friend's face. "Did you just read my mind?" she asked.

Miley numbly nodded her head. "Uh-huh."

"What did I say?" the blonde asked gently. She wanted to hear the words come out of the brunette's mouth, so she knew there was no misunderstanding between them.

Miley blinked twice. "Uh, that you're totally in love with me?" she replied.

Lilly slowly began backing away from the brunette. "Okay, obviously I am starting to freak you out. I can usually control what comes out of my mouth, but controlling the thoughts in my head is a little too much to ask. So…I'm going to go and I'll see you tomorrow." she said, reaching for the door knob.

Miley sat up quickly as fear gripped her heart. "Don't leave me!" she called out to the blonde.

Lilly smiled sadly. "I think it would be best right now. You need time to think about things, without me around." she explained. As she was halfway through the door, she paused to say one last thing. "Just for the record, I would never really leave you." she said softly. 'Do feel that way about me?' she wondered, taking one last look at the brunette lying in the bed.

Miley's eyes just seemed to get wider the longer she looked at the blonde.

Lilly immediately knew that Miley had read her mind once more. "Damn. Definitely going now. Bye Miles." she said as she walked out the door.

Miley sat there dumbfound for a moment before finally finding her voice. "Shit." she whispered to an empty room.

Lilly walked into her house a little after 3 P.M. She had spent the entire night at the hospital waiting for Miley to wake up. "Mom, I'm home." she shouted, as she hung her jacket in the foyer closet.

Heather came walking in from the kitchen wiping her hands. "How's Miley?" she asked.

Lilly made a beeline for the couch and threw herself face first into the cushions. "Well, changed would be a good word." she grumbled into the pillow.

Heather thought she caught most of what her daughter had said, but wasn't quite sure. "What do you mean?" she said as she walked over and took a seat on the chair next to the couch.

Lilly slowly lifted her head from the couch to look at her mother with sad eyes. "She can read minds now." she miserably explained.

Heather realized that the ramifications of this new development would put a serious strain on both the grils' current friendship and their possible future romantic relationship. "Oh Lilly." she sighed.

Lilly rolled sideways on the couch and propped herself on her elbow. "What am I going to do now?" she whined, looking for any advice her mother was willing to give.

Heather sighed, knowing that at this point it was a waiting game. The ball was no longer in Lilly's court. "Hope and pray. It's in Miley's hands now." she informed her daughter with a sad smile.

Lilly plopped back down onto the couch cushions and screamed in frustration.

Back at the hospital, Miley was surprised by a knock on her door. She thought that everyone had gone home for the evening. Miley smiled slightly as she saw the face of her other best friend. "Hey Oliver." she greeted him half-heartedly.

Oliver entered the room and strutted over to her bedside. "What's up rock star?" he asked, looking at her face. 'She looks so sad.' he thought. "How you feeling?" he asked her.

Miley shook her head after hearing Oliver's thoughts. It was weird enough earlier when Jackson and Lilly at least knew what was going on. Now she had to deal with Oliver, who she couldn't even tell about the mind reading thing. "Been a rough day." she admitted.

Oliver took a seat on the bed next to Miley. "How so?"

Miley shrugged her shoulders. She couldn't tell him about the mind reading thing, but that didn't mean she had to lie to him. "Jackson told me something about Lilly that I didn't know." she explained honestly.

Oliver eyed the brunette suspiciously. "Was it in regards to you?" he asked.

Miley felt uneasy under his intense glare. "Yeah." she mumbled in response.

"I'm gonna kick his ass." he said and stood up from the bed and walked over to the window.

'Am I really the only one that didn't know?' she wondered to herself. "What?" she said, slightly surprised that apparently he knew about the whole thing too.

Oliver refused to turn around to face Miley, still seething in anger at Jackson for violating Lilly's trust. "He had no right." he insisted as he stared out the window.

Miley shook her head. She was getting slightly confused by what everyone did and didn't know. "What are you talking about?" she asked, begging for an explanation.

Oliver finally turned around and looked at Miley. "It wasn't his secret to tell you." he admitted softly, the anger slowly draining away from his normally friendly face. 'She doesn't love her like that. It's so obvious.' he thought as he studied the brunette lying in the bed.

Miley didn't like everyone else having an opinion about something she had just recently discovered. "Maybe it was a good thing he told me." she told the dark haired boy. "Lilly and I don't do well with secrets between us." she pointed out, knowing that Oliver would think she was referring to the whole Hannah Montana disaster.

Oliver sighed as he walked back over to the bed. 'It was only a secret to you cause you're blind.' he thought. "Promise me something?" he said, grabbing one of her hands in his.

Miley simply nodded in response.

"Don't hurt her." he whispered and closed his eyes. "Even if you don't want to be with her like that, just...don't leave her. If you left her…I don't want to think about it." he softly explained. In his mind he added, 'She would never be the same.'

'Is there anyone that girl doesn't have wrapped around her finger?' Miley wondered. "I would never leave her. I love her." she vowed.

Oliver opened his eyes and regarded the singer carefully. "Yeah, but _how_ do you love her?" he demanded.

Miley shrugged. "I'm not sure." he told the boy honestly. "I know I love my best friend with my whole heart." she added truthfully.

Once again, Oliver glared at her. "But?" he questioned.

Miley closed her eyes to escape the dark haired boy's stare. "No but. That's just what I know right now. I've never once considered the possibility that might not be enough." she answered truthfully.

Since talking to Lilly earlier, she had established that it wasn't really about being gay, so much as falling in love with the right person. It wasn't a physical choice. It was more emotional. Miley had never connected with anyone the way she had Lilly. Everything just worked. Hannah, powers, school, everything just fit together perfectly, and it was all because of Lilly...of who she was inside.

"Fair enough." he answered, feeling that Miley was being completely honest with him. "So, how long till you can blow this popsicle stand?" he asked.

Miley smiled at the thought of getting out of the hospital. She hated it here. Especially since she knew about her nurse's disgusting thoughts towards young girls. She would be ecstatic to get away from him in particular. "Tomorrow morning."

Oliver sat in silence for a moment. Miley heard him think to himself, 'I've got some time to help convince her.'

Miley noticed an evil grin forming on the boy's face and wondered what he would think next. Instead, the shocking statement actually came straight out of his mouth without thought. "Cool , so did Lilly ever tell you what she did to Jake after he dumped you?" he asked nonchalantly.

Miley eyes shot open and her jaw dropped. "Crazy guy best friend say what?" she demanded.

'If Jackson let the cat out of the bag, might as well tell her everything that goes with it.' he thought, then launched himself into story mode. "Well, it was like this…"

After a few minutes, Oliver helped Miley piece the timeline together that was that night. Granted, she was pretty sure that there was yet more to the story that Oliver didn't know, she would bet money that it involved Lilly using her powers. Thinking about what Lilly was willing to risk, Miley was overcome with emotion. "She did that for me?" she asked as a tear ran down her cheek.

Oliver narrowed his eyes in anger. "He threatened you." he spat. Jake Ryan had certainly not indebted himself in any way to Miley's circle of friends.

Miley shook her head. "But, she could have gotten arrested…or worse."

Oliver shrugged. "It didn't matter to her. She thought he was going to hurt you. When has Lilly ever allowed anyone to hurt you?" he asked seriously, already knowing the answer.

"Never." she stated solemnly.

Oliver gave the pop star a smug grin. "Exactly." 'God, I hope I'm helping.' he thought. Oliver looked around the room as he debated if he should try to push Miley or not. Finally, he threw caution to the wind. "Can I ask you something?"

Miley nodded. "Of course."

Oliver suddenly seemed shy. "Do you think Lilly's attractive?" he asked, unable to look Miley in the eye.

Miley laughed briefly before responding. "I'm not blind Oliver." she told the bushy haired boy.

Miley's response did manage to make Oliver look up. "What do you mean?" he prodded.

Miley sighed. It was a fair question. "Oliver, you've been to the beach with her. You've seen her in a bikini. She doesn't have an ounce of fat on her body anywhere. She has muscle definition that makes most guys jealous. Gorgeous blonde hair. Amazing blue eyes. Perfect tan. Warm smile. And that's not even the best part of her." she rattled off, unable to stop her mouth once she had gotten started.

"Then what is?" he asked. Those were some pretty fine attributes in Oliver's mind.

Miley couldn't remove the goofy smile from her lips after thinking about the beautiful blonde. "It's her personality. It's just…everything. Like you said, she'd do anything for either of us. She's so sweet and caring and protective. She can make you happy by simply being _there_...you know." she said.

Oliver was beaming with pride at hearing Miley's opinion of his longtime friend. "I do." he grinned. "Seems like you've thought about this before." he pointed out after hearing Miley's very thorough description of the blonde.

Miley blushed profusely and turned her head away from the shaggy haired boy. "Yeah. Maybe a few times." she replied wistfully.

'Maybe there's hope after all.' Oliver thought as he pulled out his phone to check the time. "Well, I need to get home for dinner." he said as he stood, then leaned down to give the singer a hug. "I'll stop over tomorrow." he promised and gave her one final squeeze. 'See if I have to pick up the pieces of my best friends.' he thought sadly.

"Okay, thanks for dropping by. You were…really helpful." she said as she watched the dark haired boy reach for the door.

"Anything for one of my best girls." he replied with a grin, then was out the door.

* * *

**Oh how I love my boys. One more chapter...wonder what's left to happen? LOL - Jess**


	19. Ch 18 Ever Ever After

**John, don't worry, I've got some great ideas in the works for their powers in the next fic...and let me tell you, you aren't totally far off. Leaving for Indianapolis in the morning, but wanted to post the last chapter before the long week-end. Enjoy.**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 18 - Ever Ever After**

**Malibu, California; November 26, 2007**

Miley came down the stairs after getting a real shower and putting on normal clothes. How she hated spending time in the hospital.

She walked over and joined her father on the couch and snuggled up next to him, sighing contentedly.

Robbie Ray wrapped an arm around his little girl and smiled. "How're you feeling Bud?" he asked gently. The hospital had given her a clean bill of health, but emotionally it had been a rough couple of days.

"Fine daddy." she sighed into his shoulder.

'She's anything but fine.' the country singer thought. "You sure kiddo?" he asked again stretching his neck backwards to catch her eye.

Looking at her father's face, she realized that she hadn't discussed her new power with him. Wanting to make sure that he understood what his little girl was now capable of, she asked him a question of her own. "Daddy, did Jackson tell you what we discovered at the hospital yesterday?"

'Like what? That my baby girl can read minds now?' he thought with a devilish glint in his eye.

Miley slowly shook her head. "I'll take that as a yes." she said with a chuckle, at the look on her father's face.

Robbie Ray smiled and decided he would try and do damage control for Jackson just in case she was mad at him for telling him her new secret. "Don't be mad at him, but he was pretty upset with himself last night." he explained.

Miley raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Why?"

Robbie smiled brightly at his little girl. "That boy wants you girls together so bad, he was terrified he had screwed it up by letting you find out from him."

Miley was slightly confused. "Wait. I thought that Jackson liked Lilly?"

Robbie Ray shook his head. How these kids managed to spend all their time together and still not know what the other was thinking was beyond him. "Sure, like a sister, but did you ever figure out why you were upset about that idea in the first place?" he asked.

Miley narrowed her eyes at her father. What was it about the men in her life? "Cause I was jealous?" she responded tentatively.

Robbie rolled his wrist in front of her face trying to get her to finish her thought process. "Of what?" he continued.

She was determined, it was a conspiracy. Miley grumbled and pulled away from her father and gruffly crossed her arms. "That Jackson would have her in a way that I wouldn't." she huffed.

Robbie smiled. His baby girl was finally catching up with the rest of the world. "You love her, don't you?" he asked.

Miley rolled her neck and stood up from the couch. "Of course I love her. I just wasn't sure if I loved her…like that." she lamely finished.

"And what about now?" he said, leaning forward on the couch.

Miley shrugged her shoulders helplessly. "Maybe? I'm not sure." she told him truthfully.

Their conversation was interrupted by the door bell ringing. They could both seeing Lilly standing outside the front door nervous as all get out.

Robbie checked his watch then stood up from the couch. "Well, I hope you figure it out. I've got a brunch date, so I'll be back later." He walked forward and gave his little girl a big hug. "Jackson is working. So you two have some privacy so you can talk." he whispered in her ear, then released her and headed for the front door.

"Thanks daddy." Miley told him softly.

Robbie Ray waved the blonde in as he walked towards the front door. Lilly watched as Robbie Ray grabbed his coat, which obviously meant he was going to leave them alone to talk in private. "Thank you." she said, leaning in to give the older man a hug. A small part of her was terrified that this would be her last chance to do so.

Robbie Ray leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on top of her head. "Don't give up yet little lady." he whispered. He gave the blonde one last squeeze and headed out the door.

Miley watched the interplay between her father and her best friend and shook her head. She looked up at the blonde. "Is there any man in my life that you don't have wrapped around your finger?" she inquired.

Lilly was unsure how to interpret Miley's question, so she simply opted for apologizing instead. "Sorry." she mumbled.

Miley rolled her eyes at the blonde. Clearly, neither one of them knew what to do in this situation. It was something new for both of them. The girls stared at each other in silence for several seconds. Neither one of them wanting to make the first move.

Finally, Lilly could stand it no longer, rocking back on her heels, she let her mouth wander. "So, what've you been thinking about?" As soon as she'd finished the sentence, she reached up and smacked herself in the forehead. How lame.

Miley smiled sadly at the blonde's actions. "How messed up this whole situation has become." she answered softly, half turning away from the blonde.

Lilly threw up her hands. As usual, her willingness to avoid confrontation came to the forefront. "I'm sorry. You know what, let's just forget the whole thing. I don't want you to be uncomfortable."

Miley put a hand up to her face and covered one eye. "God, can you stop being you for one minute." she shouted back at the surfer.

Lilly was dumbfounded to say the least. "I, don't understand." she replied.

Miley faced the blonde directly. "It's not always about what I want." she declared.

Lilly was afraid to verbally respond to Miley's statement. In her mind she thought, 'Yes, it is.'

Miley narrowed her eyes at the blonde. "Don't argue with me." she snapped.

She opened her mouth to protest, then realized what had happened. "I didn't say…um, right." she closed her mouth, and stared at the floor under her feet.

Miley walked over to the blonde and dragged her by the arm to sit on the couch. "Oliver told me about Jake." she admitted.

Lilly rolled her eyes. "What a doughnut."

Miley reached for her hand and held it between her own. "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked sincerely.

Lilly sighed and counted off on her other hand all the reasons why she didn't tell Miley. "You would have been mad that I threatened Jake. You would have been mad that I used my power. And you would have been mad at me for getting involved with something that didn't concern me." she paused to look back at the brunette. "Did I miss anything?" she asked sarcastically.

Miley released Lilly's hand, sat forward and dropped her head to rest in her own hands. "When I think of all the things you have done for me time and time again, do you know how it makes me feel?" she asked.

Lilly shrugged. "Protected?" she guessed.

Miley picked her head up and turned back to the blonde. "Unworthy."

Lilly was confused by her response. "Huh? Why?"

"Because all you do is give. And all I do is take." she explained, pointing between the two of them.

Lilly closed her eyes and dropped her head. "I'm sorry. That's just how I am." she apologized softly.

Miley reached over and put a hand under the blonde's chin. She gently tipped her head back until the blonde opened her eyes. "And I would never ask you to change who you are."

Lilly shuddered and took a deep breath. "Then what do you want from me?" she asked, terrified of the answer.

Miley took a deep breath of her own, gathering her courage. She ran an encouraging thumb over Lilly's right cheek. "Show me how to love you like that." the singer told her softly.

Lilly was stunned. Rejection she had well prepared herself to face, so much so, that possible acceptance left her panic stricken. "W-what?" was all she could manage to say.

Miley smiled. "Like right now, what do _you_ want more than anything else?" she asked the blonde.

Lilly couldn't get the word out of her mouth, but she couldn't stop her mind from thinking it. 'You.' she thought simply.

Miley blushed and turned her head slightly, which was all the indication the blonde needed that she had heard her.

Lilly pulled away from the brunette and quickly stood up. "Oh my god. I'm sorry." she said, slowly backing away from the couch.

"Oh no you don't!" Miley shouted at the retreating blonde.

Miley waved the chair closest to the door into the blonde's path. As Lilly continued to back peddle, her legs came into contact with the chair, and abruptly sat back down.

Miley immediately jumped up from the couch and walked over to the chair and stood above Lilly. The singer placed a hand on each arm of the chair, relatively trapping the blonde in place. "No more disappearing acts." she said, staring into the surfer's eyes. "We face this here and now. Together." she said, her eyes flashing with determination.

Lilly stared into the depths of the brown eyes she loved so much and knew there was only one thing left to do. Lilly felt like she had come to the edge of a cliff. It was either time to fly away or fall painfully hard. She couldn't be sure that she was making the right decision, but after all this time, she just had to find out which it would be. Even if it cost her everything in the end. 'I am gonna regret this.' she thought.

Miley glared at her best friend after hearing that thought. "What're you gonna do?" she demanded.

Lilly smiled, ready to make the leap at last. "Let me up. And I'll show you." she answered calmly.

Miley gave her one last glare as she pulled away from the chair and stood up. "Don't you dare run." she warned the blonde.

Lilly grinned like a mad hatter. "I won't. I promise." she vowed as she stood up. Words only seemed to get in the way at this point. It was time to take action.

Miley was slightly unnerved at the sudden change in her best friend's demeanor. The blonde suddenly seemed calm and relaxed. She seemed to stand straighter with a sudden confidence of unknown origin. It was different, and kinda...sexy?

Lilly quickly closed the distance between herself and the singer, grabbed the back of her neck and slammed their mouths together.

At first, Miley didn't respond to the contact, too much in shock to do much else other than stand there. After a few seconds, Miley's brain started to process how her body was responding to the blonde. Her heart was hammering in her chest, her stomach felt tight, and she suddenly felt an ache inside herself that she had never experienced before. She had never had this response to anyone else…not even Jake Ryan, whom she thought she was in love with at one time.

After a few precious seconds, Miley moaned at the delicious contact between them. She began to appreciate the feel on Lilly's rock hard body pushed up against hers in all the right places. The singer snaked her hands around the blonde's back and pulled her more into the kiss. Lilly's other arm went around her back and slowly ran up and down the singer's spine.

After a few minutes, Miley finally broke away panting. "How could I have been so blind?" she wondered.

Lilly wasn't expecting that as a response to her actions. "What?" she asked in confusion.

"All those times you were upset and wouldn't tell me why…it was because of me." she whispered sadly. It made sense to her now. She had been so blind. Jackson. Oliver. Their parents. Everyone saw it. Everyone had known. Everyone but her.

Lilly grinned madly. She had just done what she had wanted to do for months. "It doesn't matter anymore." she said, gently stroking her face. "All the pain was worth it. For you. For us." she promised the brunette.

Miley closed her eyes as she savored the intimate contact between them. "You're incredible. What wouldn't you do for me?" she softly asked.

Lilly leaned in a placed a gentle kiss on the singer's lips. "I'd do anything for you." she swore against the soft lips.

Miley opened her eyes. "I believe you." she said as she slid her arms up around the blonde's neck. "I just wish I had seen this sooner."

Lilly tipped her head forward and touched it against the singer's. "A wise woman once wrote, _They say that good things take time_." she explained with a smile.

"_But really great things happen in the blink of an eye_." Miley added, continuing the lyrics, then shook her head in regret. "But I wasted so much time."

Lilly grinned madly once again. "It doesn't matter anymore." she said, shaking her head. 'You're all that matters.' she thought.

Miley smiled as she read the blonde's thoughts. "I think I'm going to like this new power." she said mischievously.

Lilly suddenly became serious as she looked at the brunette. "Yeah, but I think you need to practice it."

"Really?" she said, raising her eyebrows in question. The blonde simply nodded. "Like right now?" the singer reiterated. Once more the blonde merely nodded.

'Stop asking questions and kiss me.' the blonde thought.

Miley leaned in, happy to oblige. She pushed the surfer back onto the couch then straddled her waist. She leaned in and captured her mouth in a fiery kiss.

As things started to heat up, neither girl noticed the front door opening.

"Woah nelly!" Robbie Ray shouted as he took in the sight of his little girl making out on the couch. With her new girlfriend...he hoped.

"Robbie? What's wrong?" asked Heather as she entered behind him.

It took a moment, but finally the voices clicked in the girls' heads. "Dad!" Miley shouted as she jumped off of Lilly's lap to the other end of the couch.

"Mom!" Lilly whined, clearly much less horrified by her mother's presence than Miley was at her father's.

Heather crossed her arms and grinned smugly. "Glad to see you remember who we are." she commented sarcastically.

"Anything you want to tell us?" Robbie Ray said, hands on his hips, tapping his foot, waiting for an explanation from the girls.

Miley leaned back over to Lilly and whispered quickly in her ear. "They're not mad at all. Your mother is doing a happy dance in her head."

Lilly tried to stifle a giggle at Miley's inside information. "Well, I was trying to make out with my new girlfriend, but I guess you two are going to ruin that idea for me." she said, wrapping her arms around the brunette's waist and pulling the singer back onto her lap.

Robbie Ray shrugged in defeat. "Well. I guess we could always go upstairs to my bedroom and leave you two alone down here." he said, reaching back to take Heather's hand.

"Good idea." Heather agreed with a smile.

Lilly watched as their parents walked over and climbed the stairs hand in hand. She twisted her head back around to regard her new girlfriend. "Did they just…?" she trailed off leaving the question hanging and allowing Miley to interpret it as she so chose.

Miley got a crazy look on her face before answering. "You think I want to read either of their minds regarding that, you are crazier than Uncle Earl singing show tunes." she said as she leaned back down and wrapped her arms around Lilly's neck once more.

Lilly basked in the feeling of finally having Miley in her arms the way she had so often dreamed. "See, wishes do come true." the blonde happily informed the singer and she leaned forward to give her a quick kiss.

"Why's that?" she asked

The blonde pulled the singer against her for a big hug. "I think you're going to get your happy family after all." 'I love you.'

Miley pulled back and stared in Lilly's eyes to reply to the blonde's unspoken profession. "I love you too." she said, rubbing their noses together. "So what do we do now?"

"Why don't you read my mind? I have a few ideas." Lilly said, winking at her new girlfriend.

* * *

**Well, this is where this part comes to a close. Hope you enjoyed the ride. As I have said, there is totally a sequel in the works. It will be a more mature fic, cause I am going to be dealing with a lot of adult issues...seeing as how the girls will be getting older and things will be changing. The next fic is going to involve a lot of intimidation, violence, and death. Oh and maybe just a touch of...something special. ;) So, if that is not your thing...thanks for reading this fic. For the rest, see you next time. - Jess**

**And lastly...a quick shout out to all the wonderful musical talents that were the inspirations to my chapters.**

**1. Everything is Not What it Seems - Selena Gomez**

**2. It's Not Just Me - Rascal Flatts**

**3. How Can I Help You to Say Goodbye - Patty Loveless**

**4. Heads Carolina, Tails California - Jo Dee Messina**

**5. When Love is Gone - Martina McBride**

**6. First Contact - Erasure**

**7. Take Me There - Rascal Flatts**

**8. Movin' On Up - The Jefferson's Theme (LOL, I know right?)**

**9. Don't Laugh At Me - Mark Wills**

**10. Help You Find Your Way - Michael W. Smith**

**11. Beautiful Nightmare - Beyonce**

**12. What Hurts the Most - Rascal Flatts**

**13. Total Eclipse of the Heart - Bonnie Tyler**

**14. Take Another Little Piece of My Heart - Janis Joplin**

**15. Miracle - Cascada**

**16. If You Could Read My Mind - Amber Enriquez, Nate Thalen, Ultra**

**17. Confessions - Usher**

**18. Ever Ever After - Carrie Underwood**

**And of course credit to Emily Osment and Miley Cyrus for their own respective songs.**


End file.
